Wednesday, 29 June 2022

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 20:00 Premium Whale tours and on our lovely vessel Eldey and Elding for the 09:00, 10:00, 13:00 and 14:00 Classic Whale Watching tours. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land. If you are prone to seasickness, please consult with our team prior to boarding.

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 12:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 20:00

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 Eldey: Man it was hot in Reykjavik today, luckily for us, or at least me there was a nice cool breeze further out into the bay. Speaking of which, the lovely weather meant some great spotting conditions and it wasn´t long before we found our first minke whale. However as minkes are quite shy and we had seen some spouts on the horizon earlier, we decided to head in that direction to see if they were larger, slower whales. Very soon we found ourselves 2 blows right next to each other and minke right in front of us! Following one of these spouts we discovered a humpback whale coming up from a dive and breathing a few times before gracefully arching its back and sinking below the waves once again. After a few more dives, some where the animal showed us its lovely tail fluke, the humpback decided to breach right in front of the boat! After crashing back into the water however it resumed its lazy diving behavior and we eventually decided to leave the animal alone and look for some other whales and dolphins. Heading further out into the bay and spotting some lovely bird species we came across more minke whales, quickly disappearing below the waves again after breathing. We made a circle and then decided to start heading home to meet our schedule despite the many minkes in the area. In total we must have encountered at least 5 minke whales and 1 humpback whale.

- Liam van Walsum

Report from Eldey: We certainly do love these calm sailing conditions at the moment and were enjoying them even more this afternoon since we found a lot of wildlife in the bay. Our first sighting was a humpback whale that was swimming erratically looking for food. It was beautiful to see it so close and with its breath a colorful rainbow was painted. Kittiwakes, arctic terns and herring gull were following the animal in order to take advantage of the behavior of the animal when pushing the bowls of fish towards the surface. It was incredible to see the animal rolling and showing us its belly and its pleated throat grooves. There were 2 other humpback whales around us, one of them was pretty close and we could admire it also lunch feeding. Further out we found a beautiful minke whale that was also having lunch, it swam very close to our boat giving us the chance to get good photos of it. A good afternoon well spent out at sea.

- Estel Sanchez

Report from Elding: Wind from the North made our way out a little bit colder than we expected from this sunny day. It took us some time to reach our first sighting in an area packed with arctic terns. The noisy birds were busy feeding, and so were one humpback whale and 4-5 white-beaked dolphins. The dolphins stayed with us only shortly, but coming very close to us. Our attention however was captured by the humpback whale who was often surfacing right underneath large flocks of birds. The humpback showed the fluke many times and sometimes even showed us its expanded pink-flushed belly. We decided to say goodbye to this beautiful humpback, and as we sailed away he lifted his pectoral fin high out of the water, as if waving farewell. On the way back to Reykjavík we enjoyed the sunlit landscape and the wind in our backs, with the memory of an amazing sighting.

- Eline van Aalderink

Common guillemot, black guillemot, atlantic puffin, arctic tern, herring gull, lesser black-backed gull, greater black-backed gull, northern fulmar, northern gannet, black-footed kittiwake, icelandic gull, glaucous gull, and arctic skua.

Report from Elding: With a nice sea conditions in the morning, we started to go out into the bay wondering what we will encounter. When we arrive in the hotspot area, we spotted our first blow at distance with already a whale watching boat close to the animal. It was 1 humpback whale. When we arrive close to it, the animal interacted only with our boat and resting a bit at the surface. It was such an amazing sighting and the passengers had the chance to see the whale so close. The animal did some small shallow dive but rested most of the time and after 15 minutes, it dove deeper. A bit further away, we spotted another 1 humpback whale. We decided to leave this humpback alone and tried to see the other humpback a bit closer. This one was mostly travelling with some diving, probably trying to find some food. At the same time, 2 minke whales were in the area but very elusive, probably busy to feed too. Then we started to head back to Reykjavik. 

- Enorha Guimard