Whale Diary

10:00 - It was a beautiful day in Reykjavik today. The sun was shining and temperatures were rising above the usual. Early on we found 1 humpback whale. However, this individual traveled fast and was therefore hard to follow. We noticed BIG activity in the form of breaching and peduncle throws in the horizon and quickly wanted to investigate this. It turned out to be 2 humpback whales, a mother and a calf. The calf was insanely playful and did breaching, pectorial slapping, spy hopping and almost all the behaviors that we can imagine this species doing. One of the breaches was right in front of the boat and we needed to slowly get out of there to ensure our safety. The mother was enormous and when she did her peduncle throws, everyone was left stunned. We had a gorgeous interaction with them for a good while, and while we would love to stay, we wanted to give the duo space to be alone too. This decision led us to continue a bit further in search for something else. Almost no time past and 4 more humpback whales appeared. These ones started to do bubble net feeding, clearly shooting bubbles towards the surface. They were surrounded by huge flocks of birds, with northern gannets diving from impressive heights. All in all, this tour was absolutely incredible and involved things we usually see over many many tours. This one gets 12/10! 

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Frida

12:00 -  The sun continued to shine on the 2nd tour! We first headed to Akurey, to spot the countless puffins all around, and then we started going into the bay of Faxaflói. About 20min after, we spotted a blow, where we found 2 humpback whales together, the beloved mother and calf that we know too well now! The were very calm on the surface, until the mom went down and all of a sudden, it popped up doing a peduncle throw! The baby appeared right after, next to its mum. Then, the mom threw the tail again, splashing a lot. It also started to wave and slap the pectoral fin on the surface, so long and tall! We then decided to move on with our tour, but only a couple of meters from there, we spotted another blow, getting closer to 2 other humpbacks! These ones got very close to us, always close to the surface too, that we could track by their white pectoral fins. They were very close for a long time, coming up for a breath and just hanging around. Then, we saw a big flock of birds in another area, to find out many Northern gannets plunge diving, at the same time! Fantastic! We also had 2 minke whales and one of them even popped up very close to us! When we were returning to Reykjavik, we saw another blow, to catch another humpback diving. This was a great way to end our tour, and we came back home enjoying the weak winds and sun on our faces.

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Milla

14:00 -  What a great tour. We sailed out under calm seas and clear skies straight to the open waters. On our way we spotted a pod of 6 white-beaked dolphins cruising, jumping and playing with the waves of our boat filling us with exactment for the day ahead. Not long after les than a mile from as we saw some blows and set course straight towards them. Indeed we came across not one but two humpback whales. We stayed with them for quit a long admiring them.  Accept from the beautiful fluke dives they also did bubble net feeding and many pectoral slaps both of them at the same time letting as speechless. They made as start our way back with a big smile towards Engey island to see a cute little friends our lovely puffins.

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Frida, Captain Kylie & Guide Eleftherios

16:00 -  The sea conditions for this tour changed a bit, so it was choppier. It was definitely a bumpy ride, but we got to an amazing spot where we could see many birds together... everywhere you looked! Not only birds were in this food party, but whales too! We had 2 humpback whales lunge feeding like crazy, together and then separately. They lunge fed so close to our boat that everything shook for a bit! One of the whales was Davy Jones, one that we know quite well. We stick around with him for a while, watching its mouth takes litters and liters of water with food. Then, we got to see the other whale, which was doing the same thing non-stop! Later, we went to another area where we saw other humpback, while a minke whale was very close to us! Its body was shining with the sun and it was also enjoying this very productive area. Many minkes popped up during the tour: about at least 15 of them were coming and going in  different directions. We spotted another humpback in the distance and went to check it out. No surprise that it was also feeding! The birds were giving a show was well, diving very next to us, while we were rooting for them to get a fish... and most of them got a tiny sand eel on its beak! We then returned to Reykjavík, but before going to the harbour we stopped by Akurey, to see many Atlantic puffins everywhere and so close, flying above us. What an amazing afternoon!

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Milla

20:00 -  What a wonderful evening tour! We set out under a stunning sunset, the sea a little wavy but full of fun. Early on, we spotted our first humpback whale breaching on the distance, alongside a pod of 10 playful white-beaked dolphins leaping in our wake. When the humpback disappeared, we moved on and found another, showing off beautiful fluke dives. Along the way we glimpsed more dolphins and some shy minke whales. As the sun sank low, we looked for another humpback, which gave us a spectacular farewell with a few graceful breaches, the perfect end to a very beautiful trip.

Crew: Captain Öddi & Guide Guillermo