Whale Diary

10:00 - The weather was amazing this morning, when we departed for our tour. We had a sunny sky and calm sea, and started our adventure with a visit to Akurey island, where we could spend a nice moments with the local Atlantic puffin population, who uses the island during their breeding season. After leaving Akurey, it took us a short time to spot a humpback whale. We were very happy to find out this was Davy Jones II, a very popular humpback here in the bay, who hadn't been sighted around here for more than a month. Davy Jones II's sighting was followed by a sighting of seven white-beaked dolphins, in a location a few miles further Northwest. The dolphins surfaced close to us a few times, but eventually seemed to want some space, so we left them and moved on. On the way back towards Reykjavík, we stopped to see a second humpback whale, an individual that was a bit smaller than Davy, but which had a beautiful white tail with acorn barnacles attached to it. We had to privilege to see the tail quite a few times, whenever the whale dived, and then returned to Reykjavík.

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Ricardo, Captain Anna  & Guide Guillermo ,Captain Emily  & Guide Sigrún

12:00 - We set sail on a beautiful sunny day and made a quick stop by Engey to look at the Atlantic puffins before they leave Iceland! After that, we didn´t have to go far to stop cetaceans. Very soon a blow of a humpback whale appeared and as we were waiting for this one to come up, a second humpback whale came up next to the boat! These two whales circled the area, showing us their beautiful flukes before deep dives and popping up in a different direction. As we were playing this game of whale waiting, one of the whales surfaced very close to the boat and swam right towards us. It floated at the surface for a few moments next to the boat, before trumpeting once and swimming away. An amazing encounter like this does not happen every day! We went for a drive around the bay and found a minke whale, who treated us to a few surfacing´s before time forced us back. Passing the humpback whales again, we caught a last glimpse of these gentle giants and then we headed home, enjoying the sun. 

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Janiek

14:00 - This afternoon, we left the harbour in the best possible weather conditions: the sun was shining, the wind was just a light breeze, and the ocean had very calm, small swells. We were taking a look at the last puffins of the season when a group of 3 harbour porpoises came to check us out. This is something that doesn't happen every day, and we were very surprised by this close encounter with these elusive animals. We continued our tour, sailing out onto the bay. It only took us a few minutes to spot a blow in the distance, quite close to the shore. It was a humpback whale! This whale was quite active and surfaced very often close to the boat, so we could all enjoy the view of this amazing animal against the mountains in the background. After watching some beautiful fluke dives, we decided to keep moving and look for something else. We sailed a little further and spotted another whale, this time a minke whale. These whales are generally quite shy, but this individual surfaced frequently and relatively close to the boat. Finally, we headed back to the harbour, enjoying the sunshine, the calm ocean, and the beautiful landscape.

Crew: Captain  Anna& Guide Guillermo

16:00 - The sun was still shining and we were excited to go out! We stopped by the island of Engey to see the last of the puffins, when we spotted a blow close to the island! It turned out to be a humpback whale very close to land. This does not happen very often so it was extra special. This whale was feeding, coming up and diving again immediately. We got a few good looks, before this animal surfaced further and further away, so we decided to leave it with its afternoon snack. We did a large loop in the bay, enjoying the sun and the beautiful landscape. There were lots of birds all around, but unfortunately no whales or dolphins, so we circled back to where we saw the whale at first. This whale was still feeding and came up right in front of the boat! Absolutely amazing to see this huge animal so close. After this exciting encounter, we stopped by Engey again for a proper look at the puffins, before heading home.  

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Janiek

20:00 - As the sun was dropping low in the sky, we bundled up and set sail. We first stopped by our Atlantic puffin colony to see our feathered friends. They will soon leave so every last sighting is treasured. As we were admiring our puffins we spotted a blow in front of us and a blow behind us. We had two solitary humpback whales right by our puffin islands. We went to the first individual and they provided us with multiple nice surface sequences before heading over to the second individual. This individual was actively lunge feeding out of the water. It was amazing to see their entire face emerge out from the surface. This individual treated us to a wonderful fluke dive as well. After a very nice encounter it was time to head out further into the bay. Out in the bay we had a pair of humpback whales and a pod of 10 white-beaked dolphins surrounding the humpbacks. This pod also had some calves that were jumping and a bit curious. They came to give us a bit of a boat inspection before continuing to swim around the humpbacks. There were an additional 3 solitary humpbacks feeding around the bay as well. Everywhere we looked there were cetaceans, and within the setting sun, it was magical. After a wonderful encounter it was time to head back to port. What a fantastic way to end the day!

Crew: Captain Raggi & Guide Sigrún, Captain Pedro & Guide Janiek, Captain Emily & Guide Sam