Whale Diary

10:00 - To start off the days whale watching we stopped at Engey to look at lots of Atlantic puffins. We could see quite a few around the burrows on the island as well as many sat on the water too. Then we headed out into the deeper parts of the bay to find some bigger animals. After searching for a bit we spotted a big blow from a humpback whale. We saw this whale come up quite a few times taking breaths before fluke diving. It did this 3/4 times. We could even identify this individual as Hooker. Whilst with this humpback we also saw a pod of 8 white beaked dolphins, these guys seemed to be milling acting very relaxed. We then left them be too and headed off after another blow we saw. In this area was a 2nd humpback whale as well as a minke whale. We saw both these indiviudals come up a few times before time was up bringing a lovely, sunny morning to an end.

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Rob, Captain Örn & Guide Emily

12:00 - We left the harbour happy to see a calm sea, with small waves that would not present a challenge to our trip. Before going to the whales, we made a quick stop on the little island of Engey, were hundreds of Puffins stay in during their summer breeding season, taking care of their eggs and little chicks. After delighting ourselves with some cute puffins (and many other marine birds species that divide the island with them), we ventured straight into the center of Faxaflói Bay, where we gave start to our search for whales. This didn´t take long, as we found 3 humpback whales in the area, with 2 of them getting super close from our boat. We came across more whales during our trip, seeing a total of 7 humpbacks, before returning to Reykjavík with passengers happy to have had an experience with one of the largest animal species in the world.

Crew: Captain Örn & Guide Ricardo

14:00 - When we set off this afternoon the wind had picked up a bit and the clouds had come in too. We once again started off by travelling to Engey to see lots of puffins. After a few minutes here we sped off into the deeper parts of the bay with a few splashes too. After a bit of travelling we saw a big blow and a big fluke come up into the air, it was a humpback whale! It was only taking very short dives so we didn´t have to wait too long. We saw it come up for many breaths. Then we decided to head off further and found another humpback but this was travelling quickly and taking longer dives. So in the meantime we headed to another humpback which was much easier to watch. The sun then also started to come out which made the blows much easier to spot. Suddenly it felt like there were blows everywhere. We now could see another 2 humpbacks really nicely with another in the distance. In total there were probably 5-7 humpbacks around during this trip, it was spectacular.

Crew: Captain Örn & Guide Rob

16:00 - We set out into the bay very alert, and looking for cetaceans into the wide ocean, which expanded over the horizon. After a short period of searching, we spotted a couple whale blows in the distance, slightly more than a kilometer from us. As we approached, the blows gave way to an enormous whale tail, which slowly dissapeared into the ocean. But it was clear, we were in the presence of a humpback whale. Soon after, this whale showed up again, but it was not alone. A few hundred meters away, two more humpback whales could be seen. We then moved on to a different area, leaving these whales in peace. But quickly , we found another humpback whale to spend time with, with this one one inclusevely doing an amazing breach for us. As the tour was approaching the end, we left the whales and moved to our next objective: Akurey, the puffin island! We spent some nice, rexaling moment with the puffins and multiple other bird species, before returning to Reykjavík.

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Ricardo

20:00 - We headed straight out into the middle of the bay that has been full of cetaceans throughout the day. One our way out one of the boats got a quick look at an elusive minke whale. It only surfaced 2-3 times so we carried on. Then a bit further out and found a big blow from a humpback whale. We watched it surface and fluke dive quite a bit before it then started to lunge feed as well. After watching for a bit we carried on and saw a few more big blows ahead. When we first arrived we saw one blow was much bigger than the others, it was a FIN WHALE!!! It was moving quite fast but we got to have some really good looks at this huge huge whale. It makes both the other species we saw look so much smaller. After a great look we headed back and even saw a couple more humpbacks on the way. To round off the trip we stopped at Engey to look at puffins with a beautiful sunset behind us.

Crew: Captain Eggert & Guide Emily, Captain Miquel & Guide Rob