Whale Diary

10:00 - We set off this morning with a few whitecaps ahead and some wind, but this all calmed as the tour went on. To give us a great start to the trip we found a humpback whale only 10-15 minutes from the harbour! This one seemed to be feeding always popping up in random places before fluke diving. It also did a couple of tail slaps. We then headed further out and found a more predictable humpback. This one would surface 4-5 times before diving giving us a great look at it. We saw it do this a few times before carrying on and finding a 3rd humpback. This one combined the behaviours of the other 2 by having longer dives but spending longer at the surface. We then headed towards Engey to see Atlantic puffins, there were still quite a few on the island and on the water. Lots and lots had fish in their mouth! 

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Rob, Captain Miquel & Guide Alex, Captain Örn & Guide Rachel

12:00 - Conditions were still a little choppy at 1200 and it was a little splashy on the way out. We headed out in to the Bay and were driving for about 20 minutes or so before finding a humpback whale out in the bay. The whale was a little tricky and hard to watch, diving frequently and popping up behind us. We saw a few beautiful flukes and while waiting one of our guests spotted some dorsal fins. It was two harbour porpoises that we had a great sighting of before losing them in the swell! We then headed towards another humpback whale which started tail slapping as we approached and then disappeared. We decided to keep searching and opted to head towards some big groups of feeding birds. There we were treated with the amazing sight of a pair of humpbacks travelling together and lunge feeding, with many Arctic terns and puffins all around. We also saw sooty shearwaters, a Manx shearwater and Atlantic gannets. Lots of good food in the bay! We visited the Atlantic puffins on our way back in. Plenty of birds still at Akurey but soon they will disappear back to sea. 

Crew: Captain Örn & Guide Rachel

14:00 - We headed back out to the area where we had previously seen lots of birds and before long spotted some distant blows of humpback whales. We could see one individual which was diving really frequently and seemed like there was some amazing food under the water. Then we spotted more blows and soon we were watching three humpback whales! We saw some more lunge feeding and a couple of peduncle throws surrounded by hundreds of birds. One pair were travelling together and surfaced very near the boat a few times. The skies were starting to get a little darker and the white caps building as we headed back in but what an amazing tour. We seemed to be surrounded by humpbacks at one point and think there were at least 8 individuals in the bay. We stopped off at Akurey on the way back to admire the Atlantic puffins and watch some epic chases between the puffins, kittiwakes and Arctic skuas, all competing for the same food! 

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Rob, Captain Örn & Guide Rachel

16:00 - After a great last tour we headed out very excited to find some more whales. So we headed to the same area again. Not too long into the tour we started to spot blows and before we knew it there were 4 humpbacks around us. They all seemed to be feeding coming up randomly but also showing the fluke a lot which was cool. We then ended up spending more time with one of these in particular which we soon realised was an individual called Happy. Out of nowhere Happy then breached! After watching a few more surfaces we headed to a pair of humpbacks bringing the total to 6. On approach to them we saw a peduncle throw and a tail slap. Once we got closer they were a bit calmer. After some great sightings we then headed to Akurey to look at the super cute Atlantic puffins. This brought a very good tour to an end :)

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Rob

17:00 - Going out for our last tour today, we noticed better sea conditions meaning we could find our first sightings better and quicker. This was quickly the case, as we headed straight South: several blows appeared in different directions, and we knew we had found the zone of activity. With Arctic terns, Northern gannets and black-backed seagulls hunting around us, 5 humpback whales came several times to the surface to entertain us throughout the tour. Several times, we noticed 2 of them feeding in unison, one of them lunge diving and another surfacing slightly after. With plenty of lunges and fluke dives, we headed to the island of Akurey, getting to calm down alongside the puffins and their nests after this active tour.
Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Alex