Wednesday, 7 July 2021

✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE |  09:00

Report from Elding: Overcast skies and a flat sea meant for nice spotting conditions. The tour began by motoring to some of our preferred sites on the Northern area of Faxaflói, as large groups of birds were seen feeding from a distance. We waited patiently for signs of cetaceans and were greeted by two minke whales within a close proximity to one another but clearly not within any group structure. The two whales individually came to the surface showing their dorsal side on many occasions, with one creating a large splash as it moved quickly beneath the birds. Several minke were seen throughout the exhibiting similar behaviours. Whilst viewing the last minke of the day, a pod of white beaked dolphins came for a close view of the vessel, bow riding and playing nearby for a brief spell. The pod consisted of 5-6 individuals.

- Mike Smith

✔ PREMIUM WHALE AND PUFFIN TOUR ON SCHEDULE |  10:00

Report from Þruma RIB : We started our RIB boat tour under a gray sky. It was not windy and there was a long swell that makes the tour smooth. We first had a stop to Engey to observe the atlantic puffins. Many were on the island in front of there burrow. We left to go out on the bay and to find some whales. One of our passengers saw something so the captain stopped the boat. We scanned the surface until we had a glimpse of a minke whale. We looked a bit longer but the animal was not showing itself anymore. We continued and found other whale watching boats observing a minke whale. We had a few good sighting of this individual surfacing a few times and we decide to go further north to try to find something else. Good call ! We found a humpback whale that we could follow. It was surfacing 2-3 times before diving and showing us its dark fluke with some white and brown coloration.

- Miquel Pons

✔ CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE | 13:00 

The weather continued to be rather kind to us as we headed straight far out to Faxaflói bay to try and find large cetaceans. Before we got to the area we were targeting, we encountered two minke whales 5 minutes a part and slowed the boat down to observe them for a short while, before continuing further out. We quickly found a juvenile humpback whale, which was very calm, resting near the surface and coming frequently up for a blow, showing its lazy tail once in a while. After the word got out and the boats around the whale were getting numerous, we decided to leave it alone and head back, as we were also running out of time. On our way back we briefly spotted two minkes, and then our captain saw a huge humpback whale a little off our course, but we still decided to go watch it – and it gave us a good show off its broad back and thick tail a few times.

- Fróði Guðmundur Jónsson

✔ PREMIUM WHALE AND PUFFIN TOUR ON SCHEDULE |  14:00

Report from Þruma RIB : The weather was very similar than this morning, with maybe a bit more wind a higher swell. However it was still pleasant to rapidly sail on the bay. As usual we went to see the puffin on an island near Reykjavik. There was also grey seagull juveniles. We headed directly to the area where the humpback was seen in our previous tour. We crossed 2 harbour porpoises that quickly disappeared. We continued and found a few whale watching boat observing a humpback whale. We waited a bit that the boats left to not be crowded around the animal and then we could have a nice sight of it. It was not the same than this morning. We also spotted a second humpback whale in the same area that did not show itself again. After a while we started heading back and found another very big humpback whale. Its fluke was completely white. The animal was feeding but moving back and forth in unpredictable way. We also saw a minke whale in the same area. A very enjoyable tour !

- Miquel Pons

✔ MIDNIGHT SUN/CLASSIC WHALE TOUR ON SCHEDULE |  20:30

Report from Elding : Tonight the sky was still completely clouded and we even had a very short and slight rain out in the bay. We headed directly to the area where nice sightings were done during the day. We started seeing from very far splashes that seemed to big to be done by a dolphin. It was a humpback whale breaching ! We could not wait to arrive when we saw a bit more on our left another humpback whale that was slapping the water with its pectoral fin. This one being closer we tried to approach. The animal started to be more calm and more difficult to see when we saw a humpback surfacing 100 meters away. We stopped to try to spot it again but we could not find it again. And one of the other was breaching again so we went to see that show from closer. It is always insanely cool to see such a big animal jumping out of the water and fall in the water with big splashes. When we arrived closer the animal started to be more calm, surfacing a few times and then going for a fluke dive. We saw this behavior a few times.  We were waiting the animal to resurface when 7-8 white beaked dolphins came at us jumping in the waves. The actually came to see the humpback and we could witness their interaction. The humpback rolled a bit on the side and some dolphins were swimming aroung. Amazing tour !

- Miquel Pons

Birds observed: great skua, northern gannet, northern fulmar, storm petrel, manx shearwater, herring gull, greater black backed gull, lesser black backed gull, kittiwake, puffins, common guillemot, black guillemot

Today we will be operating on Þruma RIB for our 10:00 Premium tour and our lovely vessel Elding for the 09:00 and 13:00 Classic tour. Make sure to dress appropriately for the tours as it is always colder on sea than on land. Join us by booking online or contact us directly for more information (elding@elding.is / +354 519 5000).

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. Masks are not mandatory but are recommended in areas where keeping distance from others is not possible.