Wednesday, 6 April 2016

Tour at 13:00

Report from Eldey: This afternoon we again headed towards the area outside of Hafnarfjörður to see the humpback whales. The sun had almost disappeared but the sea conditions were still great. It took a bit more than one hour to reach the area, but then we saw 4, maybe 5 humpback whales around us. Like this morning, they seemed more agitated than yesterday. After only a few minutes one of the humpbacks was breaching and we also got to see tail-slappinh from two of them. It was incredible how close they came to us, surfacing right next to our boat so that we could even smell their breath in the end of the tour. We barely had to move the boat since the whales were always close enough for everyone to see and take pictures, very relaxing and enjoyable. Before we went home, two of the humpbacks joined together and slowly traveledvery close to each other next to us. It was hard to say good-bye to them but then we really had to start our way back to Reykjavík Harbour – with many happy passengers onboard.

- Hanna Michel

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: An incredible morning. The sun was shining and the sea relatively calm, well you could see the big swells hitting the reefs close to shore, good surfing swells but they were very long swells and you could hardly feel it on the boat. The wind was about 3-4m/s for most the tour but picked up a little nearer the end of the tour. A chilly east northeast wind. We traveled to the same area as we have been doing the last couple of weeks and on the way we got a glimpse of a minke whale that we watched for 2 surfacing sequences and then we continued to the humpback whales, they did not disappoint. The blows were no where to be seen and we got worried that they might have moved on but suddenly two backs came up and there they were. It was strange at first and we were not sure what they were doing, surfacing quickly and staying submerged for a while, maybe foraging? Then suddenly they came together and circled the boat close twice to give all the passengers a great look. After entertaining us they went to entertain the other whale watching boats too. Socializing and playing it was incredible to watch rolling, flipper slapping and even breached all of a sudden, some passengers saw but only a few got a picture. As this pair was so incredible we didn't even go and see the other two humpbacks seen a bit further away. Luckily it breached again twice as we were leaving and saying good by. A breath-taking morning, the perfect morning to have been on the boat and at sea.

- Megan Whittaker

Bird species seen on todays tours include: Northern fulmar, glaucous gull, Iceland gull, greater black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, kittiwake, black-headed gull, grayleg geese, red-throated diver, great cormorant and eider ducks.