Wednesday, 3 August 2022

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 10:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 13:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 14:00
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 19:00

Report from Eldey: Sailing out into Faxaflói bay, we felt some cold northerly wind in our faces but were thankfully also greeted by the sunshine. It took us a bit of time, but when we approached a fishing boat that was surrounded by a very big flock of seabirds, it turned out we had reached minke whale territory. Probably three or four minke whales popped up close to our boat in that wider area. As the minke whales were fast and the swell made it a bit trickier to spot their bodies, we had to be quick to look in the right place at the right time to see these beautiful animals even though they came very close to our boat. We sailed further, encountering many other minke whales on the way but our absolute highlight was when an indvidual surfaced a few times within 10 meters of the boat and we could get a very close look of its dorsal fin, the details on the body, and the smooth skin that reflected the sunlight. On the way to Reykjavík we saw a few more minke whales, making for a total of probably 6-8 individuals during the whole tour.

- Mélanie Magnan

Report from Hafsulan: our adventure today started with a very cold wind, but our overalls kept us safe and warm throughout our trip. Right after we left the harbour, we saw 2 white-beaked dolphins passing by us really close, but then they disappeared. Continuing our trip, and after a while having fun spotting the Atlantic puffins and the Northern fulmars on the way, we spotted many seabirds scattered, with at least 15 Northern gannets amongst them. It was clear to us that this area had a lot of fishes, by the was the birds were diving. It was about seconds when we saw the first minke whale on the distance, with very small blows. There were at least 3 minkes at this area and while we were trying to track them around us, we saw a high blow not so far from us. We waited for it and we saw it again: another high blow of a humpback whale, fluke diving in front of us. When we were about to turn around and check a bit more of the minkes, the humpback came up right in front of us, really close to our boat, showing us the bumps on its head and its beautiful fluke. When we were leaving the area, we spotted a pod of white-beaked dolphins again, before we headed back to Reykjavik. Slow beginning but wita very active morning after all!

- Milla Brandao

Report from Eldey: It was with northerly winds and an overcast sky that we started our sail in Faxafloi bay. After an hour we arrived in an area where, from the feeding flocks birds, we thought we might have a lot of fishes: where food is cetaceans might appear. Soon enough in that area we had minke whales all around us. We started to observe one individual minke whale quite close to our boat, then it was 2 iondividuals around really close to us. We navigated really slowly through this area and got lucky enough to observe the backs and dorsal fins of at least 10 minke whales around us. A true minke whale hotspot! We observed them from some time, even got the luxury of smelling a few of these rightly named "stinky minkes" before starting to head back toward Reykjavik watching the smoke coming out of the erupting volcano in the Reykjanes peninsula, what a spectacle! 

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Eldey: We headed out under the midnight sun for our evening cruise. The wind was still cold but the sea was the most calm we had today. As we went out in the bay we got to have a look at the erupting volcano in the distance. It has only been a few hours since it started but smoke was visible from the distance, quite impressive. After some time we got a glimpse of a minke whale. It passed really fast at the surface of the water. We then noticed a second minke whale in the area. Then a 3rd, all of them passing really fast by, nevertheless one quite close to us. Wildlife is like this, always a surprise and today we did not get too lucky with the sightings. The whales were in the area, they just decided to not show up too much around us. Because of the poor sightings we had, we handed out complimentary tickets for the passengers to come back again on a tour and hopefully enjoy a nicer look at cetaceans in their natural environment. 

- Anna Richter the undercover German