Whale Diary

10:00 - We headed out onto a calm bay under beaming sunlight and with great visibility. After a brief stop at one of the three Atlantic puffin colonies near the harbour, we headed out into the bay, hoping to spot some cetaceans. There was plenty of bird activity around, a sign of lots of food in the area for many marine predators. Northern gannets were diving all around, leaving large splashes each time. We soon spotted some blows as well, a couple of humpback whales scattered around, as well as the occasional minke whale making brief appearances. We stayed for as long as we could, enchanted by the calm blows and magical fluke dives of these wonderful humpback whales. We also had an unexpected encounter, as 2 curious grey seals took a couple of peaks at our boat! We had a total of about  5 humpbacks and 3 minkes further out in the bay, but spotted 2 more resting, logging humpbacks on the way back, as well as 2 minke whales bidding us farewell on our way back towards the harbour. A wonderful, calm, sunny tour.

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Orsolya, Captain Pedro & Guide Alex

12:00 - We went out in best weather with a blue sky and a breeze from the north. Soon we spotted a big splash on the surface. We got closer and saw a minke whale traveling fast. We saw him surfaced a few times before he disappeared, but there was a second one near by and that one got really close to our boat. We went on and spotted the blow of a larger animal on the horizon. It was a humpback whale and we got a good look at him as he surfaced and went for some deep dives showing his fluke. We stayed with him and got rewarded as a group of 3 minke whales got closer to us. This gave us the opportunity to compare humpback and minke whale side by side. On our way back we visited the puffins on Engey.  

Crew: Captain Kylie & Guide Knut

14:00 - We set sail in increasingly choppy waters, but the same beautiful sunshine as in the morning. We spotted some bird activity, and stopped to take a good look around. Sure enough, we had multiple humpback whales in the area, one of which quickly caught our attention by tail-slapping for a good 3 minutes straight! The next time it surfaced, we saw some rorqual pleats, indicating feeding from this individual. We then saw some huge splashes far off in the distance and headed over to investigate. We also spotted a couple of sneaky minke whales on the way over, briefly surfacing rather close to the boat before diving under and disappearing. By the time we got close, most of the surface activity had come to an end, but the feeding frenzy was just beginning, as marked by the northern gannets also diving all around us. We had 5-6 humpback whales all feeding in an area, a pair and a trio showing off their bubble-net feeding technique as well! We watched in awe for as long as we could, before we had to head back towards the harbour, stopping at Akurey on the way back, to check out the Atlantic puffin colony before they head out to the open ocean after their breeding season ends. What an eventful trip!

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Orsolya, Captain Pedro & Guide Alex

16:00 - Sailing out this afternoon again, the sea got slightly rougher, but we were sure of what was ahead of us. Just like this morning, we had to sail out for over 30 minutes, before encountering numerous flocks of seabirds. Northern gannets were plunge diving by the dozen all around us, with hundreds of splashes non-stop. All the seagulls directed us to were the whales would be, flying over and trying to opportunistic feed at the surface. This lead us to see over 3 minke whales and 5 humpback whales, with all of them coming up and down to feed, some of them tail slapping to scare the fish to go down and some bubble net feeding every time they came up ! We ended by having a trio of them fluke dive multiple times, rolling over around each other before disappearing further West. This was really one of a kind of a feeding tour !

Crew: Captain Kylie & Guide Alex

20:00 - We set out onto a smoother bay, the wind and waves having calmed down since the afternoon. We headed towards Akurey, to admire the Atlantic puffin colony in the blow of the setting sun before continuing out into the bay hoping to spot some cetaceans. Soon enough, a vigilant passenger caught sight of some tiny splashes, a group of 4 harbour porpoises! Typically shy and elusive, this little group was quite inquisitive, coming rather close for a good look at tour boat. We continued on and spotted several large blows and many splashes along the way, more harbour porpoises, another group of 6! As we headed towards the larger blows of humpback whales in the area, we soon realized we were absolutely surrounded. At least 10-15 of these gentle giants were spotted all around, going for majestic fluke dives, moving all around the bay in search of food. 2 of them were accompanied by small pods of white-beaked dolphins, leaping and splashing around. When we least expected, we had a couple of breaches from some of the humpbacks, and even saw some lunges! As a finale to this very busy tour, we followed a group of 4 humpbacks feeding together, and waved goodbye as they went for fluke dives in front of the setting sun. On the way back, we also had some sneak minke whales making brief appearances. What a tour, nothing short of magical!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Orsolya