Wednesday, 22 July 2015

Tour at 20:30

Report from Hafsúlan: The wind had picked up and the swells were getting taller but that did not stop our enthusiasm to look for the whales. We decided to sail to the areas were we had been seeing humpback whales on earlier tours. On the way out we saw two large blows, we slowed down and tried to get a look at the whale that had made them but after a few minutes searching without any success we kept on going. It didn't take us a long time to find another whale and this time a very energetic humpback whale. The humpback was clearly feeding, and it wasn't alone, we also saw a pod of 8-10 white beaked dolphins and a flock of arctic terns that seemed to be following it around. This was just an amazing sight, the humpback was lunge feeding, rolling and tale slapping and often right next to the boat so the people on middle deck could even feel the blow of the whale. We stayed in this area until we were out of time and had to go back to harbour even though we would have loved to spend longer time watching this amazing whale.

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: With two humpback whales out in the bay we of course set aim for one of them. The wind had picked up again and the swells was building up. But only after 45 minutes of sailing a passenger saw the blow of one humpback whale! It was the same individual as Hafsúlan saw on the morning tour and the midnight tour yesterday. The whale put on a really nice show for us surfacing really close and raised its fluke several times. It also pec-slapped several times! We had a hard time leaving this whale but after watching it for close to an hour we decided to started to head back and search for other species. We had brief encounters with two minke whales before and during the humpback whale. Back in the harbour happily, after another successful tour in Faxaflói.

- Marcus Bergström  

Tour at 14:00

Report from Eldey: This tour started out much like the last as we had good weather and sea conditions and our first sighting was of the same humpback whale as in the morning. It was clearly in a much more active mood though this trip as along with raising of the tail we also got to see some really cool acrobatic displays. The humpback rolled around as it was feeding to show off its stomach and it even lunged out of the water with a mouth full of fish so we could see the whole head of the whale. This wasn't´t where the trip ended though as later we found a pod of 12-15 white-beaked dolphins that were in a very playful mood. They were swimming around us, leaping many metres into the air close to us and being perfect dolphins to watch. An excellent tour with some really special sightings.

- Jack Ball

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The wind had slowed down a little bit since the morning tour. On our way out into the bay we passed by two minke whales, we didn´t stopped to have a closer look because we wanted to find a humpback whale. It took some time but then we got a call from another whale watching boat that wasn't´t as far out as we. They had found a humpback. When we got there we could enjoy the same individual humpback whale as we have seen the last two weeks on our tours. We couldn't´t have been happier when it suddenly breached right infront of our boat!! Amazing to see these large animals coming up from the water and smashing down with full power, memories for life. After such show we could return with big smiles on our faces and the sailing was really smooth with the wind. Amazing tour!

- Marcus Bergström

Tour at 10:00

Report from Eldey: Thankfully the weather had really calmed down from the previous days so our journey this morning was the smoothest it has been in days, plus the sun was shining and the sky was blue. All great conditions for whale watching! Our tour was dominated by one single humpback whale that we had heard reports of from other boats, we spent around 45 minutes with this humpback as it was slowly travelling through the area. It was very comfortable around us and was often within metres of the boat surfacing with a loud blow that was almost scary at times. We got to see the whale lifting its tail high into the air and we could watch the whale beneath the water surface due to the sunlight, giving us a great look at just how huge these animals really are. All in all a really pleasant and successful trip.

- Jack Ball

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The last days in Faxaflói have been pretty windy and this day was no different. However, the sailing was still comfortable and enjoyable. After only 30 min we spotted a large blow a few hundred meters away from our boat. We slowly approached this animal to get a closer look but were already quite sure that it was a humpback whale. As we got closer our first assumption was confirmed and we could spend quite a while with this indivudal.It was slapping its tail on the water surface a few times and was surfacing only about 10 m in front of us. It was great to see this humpback whale but after a while we decided to move on to look for something else. We headed further offshore but we didn't find any more cetaceans for the rest of the tour, so we turned back to the Old Harbour of Reykjavík. 

- Hanna Michel 

Birds seen on todays tour include: Kittiwakes, puffins, Arctic terns, northern gannets, northern fulmars, Arctic skuas, eider ducks, black-backed gulls, black guillemots, common guillemots.