Whale Diary

12:00 - We had a little drizzle as we set sail out into the bay this afternoon. First we stopped at Engey to look at our Atlantic puffins, bringing fish back to their burrows! We then set our sights towards the bay. As we sailed out the rain lifted and we even encountered some sunshine! Not to far into the bay we spotted the blow of one humpback whale! This individual showed us their fluke right away. It is always very exciting when we get to see their unique pattern. This individual had a very noticeable blow so it was easy to spot when they resurfaced again. This individual was a focused feeder and after multiple surface sequences we waved this individual goodbye and went for a look around. Not too far away we spotted the dorsal of a second solitary humpback whale! This individual started lunge feeding and it was wonderful to see their face as they broke through the waters surface. While we were watching our humpback we had two harbor porpoises surfacing a few times before swimming off. The black-legged kittiwakes were helping us track the surfaces of our humpback. This individual also surfaced right next to us! It was amazing to see their white pectorals and body so close to the boat! After this amazing encounter, it was time for us to wave the bay goodbye and head back to port. What a great afternoon!

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Sam

14:00 - The sun had begun peeking out from behind the clouds as we headed out into the bay. We had our first sighting quite early, a blow in an area with a lot of seabirds, mainly black-legged kittiwakes. As we headed closer, we got to see the blow again, and the unmistakable silhouette of the back of a humpback whale! We got to see this individual go for some short dives, and deeper dives marked by a dramatically arched back. This whale covered quite a bit of distance with these longer and deeper dives, so we continued on and very soon stumbled onto an area with another blow, another humpback whale! As we approached, we suddenly found ourselves at the edge of a bubble spiral, this whale was bubble-net feeding! The seabirds were also very thrilled, following this whale wherever it surfaced. We got to see the end of a lunge and the long, white pectoral fin sticking up in the air, as the whale rolled onto its side. We followed this whale for a while, and were treated to some fluke dives, but this whale began covering quite a bit of distance with longer dives as well, so we made our way back to the whale we started out with. We were happy to see this whale again, and followed it as it was clearly very busy feeding on the feast that had begun under the surface, when all of a sudden, the second whale surfaced right next to us! The two whales we had had the pleasure of finding today had decided to meet up and form a pair, travelling very close to one another and diving under our boat at one point! What a treat! Thrilled to have seen such special behaviours, and having seen a pair form in front of our very eyes, we started making our way back towards the harbour, but not before making a quick stop at Engey to admire the Atlantic puffins all around. What a special day!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Ricardo, Captain Gunni & Guide Orsi

16:00 - We headed out of port and stopped by Lundi to admire our feathered friends the Atlantic Puffins before heading our into the bay. We had a bit of a journey before we spotted the dorsal and went to see who we had found. It was a pod of 7 white-beaked dolphins! This pod came really close to inspect our boat! It is always amazing to watch their white striped dash through the water as they swam around us. After an amazing encounter we spotted a blow and went to check out who else was around. That was when we spotted the back of one humpback whale. This whale gave us multiple surface sequences before it was time to set sail back to port. On the way back we spotted a very quick minke whale. With three of our four common cetaceans spotted, we had a very successful afternoon!

Crew: Captain Bohdan & Guide Maria Ana

19:00 - This evening we sailed into the bay and it didn't take long before we spotted a pair of humpback whales. They put on an incredible show, including  lunge feeds and even a powerful peduncle throw! After leaving the humpbacks, we came across a pod of 7-8 white-beaked dolphins, including a young baby! The pod came right up to the boat to investigate us, giving everyone fantastic views! With smiles all around after such wonderful encounters, it was time to begin our journey back home. Along the way, we visited some puffins in Akurey a great evening!

Crew: Captain Bohdan & Guide Maria Ana

20:00 - The sky had slightly opened during the evening and we set out to sea with the sun shining above us, something highly appreciated after days of overcast skies. We visited Engey island, a breeding colony for birds, where we saw thousands of puffins, many of them returning to their burrows with freshly caught fish to feed their babies (known as "puffling"). We then headed out to deeper waters and soon spotted a minke whale. We stopped for this whale who was continuously surfacing over the same area, likely busy feeding on a school of fish. After having some good moments with this whale, we headed out and, shortly after, we found a humpback whale. The whale surfaced multiple times near us, although in a sort of sporadic pattern, meaning that it wasn't always easy to see it. Therefore, we moved on to another humpback, whose blows we had seen only a few miles away from us. When we approached this humpback, we were surprised to see it lunge feed just a few dozen meters from us, rapidly surfacing with it's mouth wide open and swallowing large ammounts of fish. Luckily for us, the whale did such behaviour multiple times, throughout the sighting and, at some occassions, approached to less than 20 meters of our vessel. Eventually, we left this humpback alone and headed back home, extremely happy with this amazing encoutner.

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Ricardo