Wednesday, 25 January 2023

Today we will be operating on our lovely vessel Eldey for the 13:00 Classic Whale Watching tours. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land.

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00

COVID-19: Keep in mind that passengers and crew are asked to ensure their own hygiene and safety at all times. Washing hands thoroughly with soap and using a hand sanitiser is advised.  

Report from Hafsulan: We set off with in very nice conditions, only a little breeze and a warm-ish temperature. The further out we got the bigger the swell got so some people did start to feel seasick. After hearing of a number of humpback whales further out yesterday we decided to use our faster boat, Hafsulan, to try and spot them ourselves. Thankfully after about 1.5 hours of sailing we spotted some humpback whales arching their backs. We had what we set out for! We had a fantastic sighing of 4 humpback whales all feeding in the same area on some fish. Therefore, we got to see regular surfaces with lots of blows. Even after they went for fluke dives this was never for long. We spent about 15 minutes with these individuals; most of this they were at the surface which was fantastic viewing. 3 of the individuals were much closer to us really allowing us to get a sense of how big these individuals were. We did also get a sighing of an entangled humpback whale. Unfortunately, this individual had died as a result of the entanglement. This gave us a good opportunity to discuss the the cause of death and problems relating to fishing. It was very interesting to see this but hopefully in the future as we all become more aware of these problems entanglement can happen less and save the lives of many cetaceans around the world. But overall, the long journey to see these humpback whales was worth it as it was fantastic!

- Rob Hyman

Common guillemot, razorbill, Great cormorant, European shag, northern fulmar, glaucous gull, eider duck, black-backed gull, Icelandic gull and northern gannet.