Tour at 13:00
Report from Hafsúlan: today we went out from Reykjavik amidst beautifully snow-covered mountains and under totally clear skies! The swell from the stormy days of late was some but there were no white tops on the water, hence optimal conditions for spotting as well as because we could see great distances. After a while we got a call from another whale-watching boat saying that they had found a group of dolphins and so we went in their direction but by the time we got to them, the dolphins were gone. Seemingly they had been traveling very fast so had somewhere more important to go to. On went the search but nothing turned up apart from thousands of northern fulmars and other seabirds until the other boat called us up again on the radio. They had remained close to shore while we had gone further out; a sensible form of cooperation so that a greater area can be searched and then if something is found, both parties can benefit. They had found another group of white-beaked dolphins. It took us about half an hour to reach them but once we did, it was worth it for they were very curious and often approached us close. We spent an hour or so in their company before heading back to Reykjavik but right in the harbour entrance we got a great surprise in the shape of a very curious common seal which spent a while observing and circling us before vanishing. Certainly a great end to the tour!
- Baldur Thorvaldsson
Birds seen on today's tours: eider duck, northern fulmar, common guillemot, northern gannet, glaucous gull, kittiwake, black-backed gull, cormorants, and long-tailed duck