Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: The weather had really calmed down this evening, the sea was very flat and on the way out we couldn´t feel the wind. It was a very pleasant journey that could only be made better with whales. We first tried sailing south into an area we hadn´t explored very often, this would turn out to not be fruitful as we hoped and we had to return to our more successful areas in the past. It was in these areas that we had our highlights, we saw three Minke Whales! The first was quite elusive and didn´t give us much of a show, but the next two were much better. The second was resting and would constantly surface in front of the boat very slowly, this was our best look at a minke. Then a third appeared nearby so we decided to also see this whale, we managed to get several good looks at this whale before our time was up and we had to sail back to harbour. On the way back we had live music playing in the saloon as everyone cuddled up with blankets and hot chocolate.

- Jack Ball

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The sea conditions were still well and the wind was blowing in our favour to go out. While we were sailing among plenty of scattered seabirds we had good looks at several bird species from the small Puffins to the big Northern Gannet, to the chatting Arctic Terns and the mean Arctic Skua, the parade of lined up Eider Duck males or the Common Guillemots sitting calm on the water. We were visited by overtaking Fulmars and Kittiwakes and could observe the different wingflap rates from Black-Backed Gulls compared with the high speed Puffins which took off together from the same spot. Soon we found our first and only Minke Whale which we could see quite well. It surfaced several times and also quite close. Once 1 Harbour Porpoise came up in sight but disappeared as quick as he appeared. But it is not the quantity that counts it is the fact that hopefully everybody could manage to have a good look at some of Iceland's impressive wildlife.

- Carine Zimmermann

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: The weather had been improving during the day so the sea was very calm as we sailed out of Reykjavík. And it didn´t rain! Always a bonus when it stays dry. We searched the same area where we had found dolphins that morning but they had moved on from that area so we had to keep searching. This trip was one where we all had to work very hard, we had kept hearing reports of whales being sighted in certain areas but every time we would arrive to the area the whale had disappeared. We did manage to see a small pod of 4 Harbour Porpoises that were travelling through the area but they didn´t stay for very long. It took us a long time before we actually got a good look a species, but it was a very good look. There was a pod of 4-5 White-Beaked Dolphins that were passing through the area, some of them just moved away but a few stayed behind and started breaching and body slapping the water for a very long time. It was a very satisfying sighting that every could both see and get some fantastic pictures of. The way the dolphin was throwing its body around means any picture of the dolphin will turn out great! It was the end to the tour that we needed, and everyone was happy with the turnout!

- Jack Ball

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: The wind had calmed a bit this afternoon as we headed out on the bay and luckily, the rain that was forecast did not show up. However, we had to wait long for our first sighting. After more than an hour, a blow was spotted in the distance but as we approached the place where it had been seen, no whale came up despite a thorough lookaround. We headed further and after another half hour, finally a minke whale was seen surfacing abuot 200 meters from the boat. It was travelling quite fast towards the city. We got a few good close looks at it before it dove down and we lost it. On the way back, another minke whale was seen surfacing three times and this time, it was travelling much slower. In the meantime, a pod of around 6 harbour porpoises surfaced very close to us and even approached the boat! Very nice! All in all, we would have liked some more sightings but those that we got were quite nice.

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: There was some wind across the bay but the sea conditions were still quite good this morning and we were always comfortable, especially on the way out as we sailed with the swell and wind. It always feels quite warm when you can´t feel the wind, you might forget you´re at sea. And as we sailed out of the city we got a big surprise, there were some large splashes in the distance. As we got closer we realised this was a pod of White-Beaked Dolphins that were jumping around and really putting on a show! And all this was happening just 15 minutes out of the harbour! after our excellent start we moved on and over the rest of the trip we spotted three Minke Whales, each one was never around for a very long time. But each one would surface several times in sight of the boat before diving down. Though the minkes didn´t give us a great show the dolphins were so amazing that the tour could still be considered a great success!

- Jack Ball

Tour at 09:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It felt quite warm as we were leaving Reykjavik with a southeasterly wind and we even saw some sunbeams. We started our tour with a nice rainbow over the North Atlantic Ocean. But the sky was mostly overcast and on the way back we could feel the wind in our faces. Soon there were some splashes at the horizon made by breaching White-Beaked Dolphins which behaved calm when we came into the observation zone. As we decided to head on a bit further we met more dolphins probably of the same group which was quite dispersed. In total there were about 7 individuals. We had a good look at them so we could see their black and white pattern along their bulky bodies, especially of one which came closer. The Minke Whale we found later was more difficult to watch spending a lot of time under the water surface and once we had a short glimpse at a Harbour Porpoise appearing in the area of the minke. We knew then that there are 3 different cetacean species around but the only ones we could properly see were the dolphins from the beginning.

- Carine Zimmermann

Birds seen on today's tours include: Fulmars, puffins, kittiwakes, arctic terns, arctic skuas, northern gannets, common guillemots, greylag geese, lesser black-backed gulls, glaucous gull and eider ducks.