Whale Diary

10:00 -  We had an amazing whale-watching tour today. We started the tour with a mostly calm sea, and the waves slowly started increasing in size. It got to the point were they were large enough to provide a fun time for our guests, without becoming uncomfortable. After having some fun surfing the waves, we came across our first sighting, a humpback whale. The whale was way more active than what we usually expect, doing behaviours like peduncle slap, pec slapping and even, breaches! After having our fun with this whale, we found a second humpback, which was behaving more calmly, and mostly logging on the water surface. This allowed us to approach the whale, and have a great view of its dorsal and pectoral fins. Eventually, we finished the tour by visiting Akurey, a small islet with a populations counting on the dozens of thousands of puffins!

Crew: Captain Óðinn & Guide Ricardo, Captain Pedro & Guide Milan

12:00 -  We sailed into a calm bay under dense cloud cover and minimal wind. Following a brief stop at the Atlantic puffin colony on Akurey, we headed deep into the bay to spot some cetaceans. Our first sighting was rather unexpected and a bit sad, as we found a floating minke whale carcass. Nonetheless, very interesting to see the circle of life, as the seabirds were quite thrilled at this feast. We moved on, and spotted some quick dorsal fins cutting through the waves, a small pod of 3 very shy white-beaked dolphins. We only caught a couple glimpses of these fast dolphins, before moving on to a minke whale nearby. Both species were being rather shy and elusive today, so we turned towards some large blows in the distance, multiple humpback whales. There were around 6 of them in an area, going for some gorgeous fluke dives. One of them even demonstrated the whale-pump process, by pooping on the surface, right near our boat! There were flocks of Northern gannets diving for fish, many minkes popping up before quickly disappearing again, and of course, the humpbacks, clearly there was quite a feast right beneath us. We decided to follow the trio of humpbacks closest to us, which happened to include our beloved mother-calf pair! Always such a treat to see these two! Momma humpback surprised us with some spontaneous breaches and peduncle throws, and we even got to see a breach from the calf! What a lucky tour!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Orsolya

14:00 -  The seas were calm and the sun was trying hard to peak through the clouds this afternoon. First we encountered a pod of 3 white-beaked dolphins travelling their merry way. A first minke whale also appeared shortly after that, but vanished rather quickly. We then moved onwards to find a group of 3 very playful and curious humpback whales. They swam curiously around the boats around them and spy-hopped multiple times to look at us. After we passed the humpback inspection, an even more curious minke appeared. It came straight towards us and stayed still under the water right next to us, so we could see its whole body through the surface of the water. It stayed there for quite some time until we were happy to see we were also minke whale approved! Our last encounter of the tour was with the mother and calf. The calf was taking a rest and stayed the whole time at the surface, while the mother went for fose short dives, each time surfacing again next to the calf to check in on it. After this lovely encounter, we had to call it a day and sailed back to Reykjavik!

Crew: Captain Óðinn & Guide Ricardo, Captain Pedro & Guide Milan

16:00 -  Setting out on the calm, overcast bay, we were very excited to spot some cetaceans. We had our first sighting soon enough, a trio of humpback whales playing amongst a small pod of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins! What a way to start the tour! Naturally, we stayed with the trio as long as possible, and to our delight, realized the trio included out beloved mother-calf pair as well! What a treat! The calf was feeling quite playful, rolling, pec slapping near the surface while dolphins quite literally lept over the baby humpback! An amazing interaction to witness between these species. As the cetaceans began calming down after a wonderful play-session, we stayed with the mother-calf pair for a good while more, also admiring the various seabirds diving for fish nearby. The spotlight was soon stolen however, by another beloved character, Davy Jones II, another well-known and well-loved humpback in this bay. We stayed with this charismatic whale until we ran out of time, at which point we headed back towards the harbour. We spotted some more elusive white-beaked dolphins on the way back, and stopped for a brief visit to the Atlantic puffin colony on Akurey. What a lovely tour!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Orsolya