Whale Diary

10:00 - Today we started our adventure with some drizzle but as soon as we left the puffin islands the rain stopped and we could enjoy the ride out onto the bay. Even though it was a cloudy day, the ocean was extremely calm and the reflection of the sky in the water made the sea look like liquid metal. It didn't take us very long to find our first species, a minke whale. We stopped the boat to see if it surfaced again, but unfortunately this was a very shy individual so we couldn't find it again. We decided to keep going and look for something else. We went back to the puffin islands because we spotted a blow in the distance. It was a humpback whale! This individual was very close to the city and we could spend a long time with it while it was swimming peacefully in the area. Before finishing the tour, we did a little sail and we found another humpback. This whale was also very calm and swam slowly quite close to the boat, surfacing from time to time. Unfortunately, the tour was coming to an end and we had to head back to the port.  

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Guillermo, Captain Pedro & Guide Hannah

12:00 - A foggy tour awaited us today but flat flat seas, incredible conditions for sailing and spotting cetaceans. We headed out into the bay, and after saying hello to our puffin friends we immediately saw 2 harbour porpoises! And before we could head away from the puffin islands we even spotted a minke whale. This was a big individual and super close to land. Already the tour was set up for success. We continued and the fog started to roll in even more. Then, just in the fog, like a fantom, we saw something leaping from the water. As we headed in that direction 2 white-beaked dolphins came to check us out, and one of them was bow-riding tour boat for a several minutes! Later we heard a blow in the distance but the fog made it difficult to see. We killed the engines and listened for blows. The cathedral silence was interrupted by a powerful bellowing bloooowww and immediately we had our heading. We found one humpback whale, which then became two and then three. We watched speechless as the whales dove and surfaced with immense grace. So much life in the bay, such a privilege! 

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Matteo

13:00 - We headed out into the fog today, the sea calm and mysterious as we made our way out from the harbour. Just to the right of the harbour, we spotted a minke whale, but it proved to be very elusive, appearing only briefly before disappearing again. After a while, we decided to move on. On the way, we were lucky enough to see a harbour porpoise, although only once before it vanished beneath the surface. Then came the main attraction of the trip. We found a magnificent humpback whale, and for a while we were able to watch it moving through the water. The highlight came when it suddenly breached, bursting dramatically out of the sea before crashing back into the waves. As if that wasn't enough, a pod of around ten white-beaked dolphins soon appeared alongside us. They added an extra burst of excitement to an already incredible encounter. Despite the fog and the elusive starts to the trip, it turned into a fantastic day on the water, with a breaching humpback whale and a pod of white-beaked dolphins making it one to remember.

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Aleks

14:00 - This afternoon we left the harbour and the bay was completely covered in fog. We arrived to the puffin islands and the fog gave a eerie look to the landscape but we could still see some puffins on the water and on the cliffs. We left the islands, and as we sailed out onto the bay the fog slowly cleared up. We spotted in the distance a group of very cute and small dorsal fins, it was a pod of 6 harbour porpoises. Normally, this species doesn't like to interact very much with boats but this group was extremely social with us and came quite close to us several times,  even jumped right next to the boat! We spent quite some time with this group when we decided to check a blow in the distance. We found a humpback whale peacefully sleeping in the surface of the water. Suddenly, the whale went for a deeper dive and it surprised us with a breach! And what was even more surprising is that it went back to sleep again. After watching the humpback fall asleep again and logging, we went to check out a minke whale before heading back to the harbour. This was definitely a day at sea that we will all remember. 

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Guillermo, Captain Helgi & Guide Hannah

16:00 - The fog cleared up for our 1600 tour, we had much better visibility and still exceptionally calm seas. After paying a visit to our feathery pufein friends, we headed out into the bay. As we sailed we had our eyes glued to the water, scanning the ocean, making sure we did not miss anything. However, it was our noses that found our first beast, as a foul smell surrounded the boat. We had just been hit by the blow of a minke whale! Notorious for their stinky breath. We eventually found this young individual and watched a few times as it surfaced. We sailed on and a passenger spotted a blow, this was a humpback whale, which we followed for several minutes before leaving at peace and moving on. We later found another humpback whale not too far from the previous one. We watched several fluke dives, until the previous individual joined with the latter and to our amazement, started sleeping together! Two humpback whales dozing off at the surface, so relaxed, so magnificent. We headed home and caught a glimpse of two harbour porpoises but soon disappeared. Another successful tour!! 

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Matteo

20:00 - On our last tour of the day, the sea started to get a bit choppy, but still good sea conditions to sail out and see our favorite animals! We first stopped by Akurey island, where we saw many puffins all around: on the water, on the island, flying above us! We then started heading towards into the bay, where we saw our first blow: a humpback whale was being followed by birds and lunge fed! It was amazing to see its mouthful of food coming up! This individual was spending a couple of minutes under the surface and then coming back up super far away, indicating a very fast one! We continued our trip to find... another humpback whale! This one was also being followed by birds and had an almost completely dark fluke, which was beautiful! We continued going more and more far into the bay where we saw... A pod of about 15-20 white-beaked dolphins! They were a bit scattered, so one part was following another humpback whale, swimming side by side with it, another group was swimming around, and another group closer to us was... Mating! They for sure were spending a lot of energy there, with the tails going up, belly to belly behaviours, strange splashes on the surface...! Wow! They were so close to our boat and we just stood there with our engines off, watching the show. The were also jumping sometimes and even bowriding. When we turned around to go home, we still got to see the humpback whale with the dolphins a bit more. The whale went down with a fluke dive and we continued our way. This was an amazing night and we'll definitely never forget this breeding season for the whales and mating for the dolphins!

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Milla, Captain Pedro & Guide Guillermo