Whale Diary

10:00 - This morning, we headed out into the bay after a brief stop at Akurey, where we admired the Atlantic puffins. As we headed out, we got lovely sunshine pouring through the thin cloud cover. We soon spotted some splashes that didn't fit in with the rhythm of the white-caps ahead, we had stumbled upon a rather shy pod of 7 white-beaked dolphins! We got to see their sharp, curved, dark dorsal fins slicing through the water a couple of times, but ultimately decided to leave them in peace, as they seemed to be a bit elusive today. As we continued on, we saw a large blow ahead, our second sighting! This turned out to be a humpback whale, which showed off its massive blow and gave us a beautiful fluke dive! We stayed with this calm individual, as it appeared to rest on the surface for a good while. We got to see and hear those big breaths and admire the pectoral fins shining through the surface. We decided to let this whale enjoy the rest of its nap and continued on to some more blows in the distance. It turned out to be a pair of humpbacks, one of which was Davy Jones II, a local celebrity in this bay! Living up to his reputation, Davy gave us a lovely close swim-by, spraying us with his glow multiple times! As we were running out of time, we waved goodbye to this lovely pair, and headed towards the harbour. On our way back, some tiny splashes caught out eyes, a small pod of 2-3 harbour porpoises! Such a lovely surprise on the way back, what a lucky tour!

Crew: - Captain Pedro & Guide Eline, Captain Miquel & Guide Orsi

12:00 - For our lunchtime tour we first made a brief stop by Engey island to watch the cute Atlantic puffins, then we continued on further into the bay in the search for whales. However, we did not have to drive for long until our first sighting - suddenly the fin of a minke whale popped up just next to us! We stopped and were able to watch the minke do another surface, and then we had the great surprise of 5 white beaked dolphins that travelled straight towards us. The dolphins swam under the boat and appeared just next to us, which gave everyone onboard a great chance of seeing their beautiful grey and white coloration. After this sweet interaction we continued our journey, and soon spotted a tall blow ahead. As we got closer we discovered it was not just one, but two humpback whales that were calmly resting together (one being the well known Davy Jones 2:nd). We could watch this peaceful duo for quite some time, doing frequent surfaces all around us. After many pictures and full admiration of these big animals, we headed in another direction to soon find yet another humpback whale. We stopped an watched it surface a few times, before the grand ending - a gorgeous fluke dive! We were all left in awe, resulting in applause from all passengers onboard. With this great finish, we headed back to the harbour, full of wonderful new memories.

Crew: - Captain Megan & Guide Maja

14:00 - This afternoon´s tour was incredible. We found ourselves in the middle of a feeding frenzy, with hundreds of kittiwakes, herring gulls, and northern gannets flying around, huge schools of fish swimming under our boats, and - most importantly - lots and lots of hungry whales. Four humpback whales were feeding in the area, one of them even making bubblenets. It was very easy to know where the whales would come up, not least because there were so many, but also because the bubbles always gave away the location and so did the birds. After the most unbelievable close encounters we could have ever wished for, we headed back to Reykjavík and spotted another humpback whale that was surrounded by 5 white-beaked dolphins. We spent some time admiring these beautiful dolphins and then made a stop at the puffin colony of Akurey before going to harbour.  

Crew: - Captain Pedro & Guide Eline, Captain Miquel & Guide Orsi

16:00 - What a wonderful tour! After admiring the puffins on Engey island, we headed out further and were soon greeted by a pod of 4 harbour porpoises ahead. We stopped and were able to watch these small, cute whales surface so close we could clearly see their small triangular dorsal fins, and hear the small "puffs" of air from their exhales. After this sweet interaction, we continued on and soon spotted one big blow in the distance. It was a humpback whale! we were lucky to watch this whale surface multiple times, then we suddenly spotted a second tall blow. We left this individual be and drove over to find out it was a second humnpback whale, also coming up at the surface, performing some very loud exhales. There were plenty of seabirds around as well, including puffins, razorbills, and guillemots. Then, just as we were watching the humpback whale, a minke whale appeared just next to us. Even though it is one of the smaller baleen whales, this individual looked very big by our side. We were not able to see the minke again, so we also left the humpback whale be, and continued our journey. However, the tour was not over yet - we came across yet two humpback whales that were feeding together. One was significantly bigger than the other, possibly indicating that this was a mother and calf pair. We were fortunate to be able to see them feed together, with plenty of seabirds taking part as well. After admiring this duo, we returned to the city full of joy after such abundant tour. We were even able to stop for 3 more harbour porpoises on our return!

Crew: - Captain Megan & Guide Maja

20:00 - This evening, we headed out into the bay with the wind beginning to pick up. After a brief stop at Akurey to take a nice close look at the Atlantic puffins, we headed deeper into the bay, determined to spot whales. The way out was very choppy and we were absolutely showered by waves, but nothing could stop us and our sense of adventure kept us going, eager to see all the bay had in store for us. We were handsomely rewarded for our perseverance, as we soon spotted the first blows ahead. As we got closer, we realized we had stumbled onto the prime buffet spot for the evening, as we counted at least 8 blows around us in this area, all marked by excited flocks of birds, eager to pick off the leftovers the whales leave behind. We had our eyes on the blow we spotted first and headed closer to get a better look at this humpback whale. Our trusty captain definitely made the right call in choosing to follow this whale, as it soon started putting on an absolute show for us, breaching for 10-15 minutes! After that impressive display of acrobatics, we got several beautiful fluke dives, and we got to see the ends of some lunges happening below the surface, in the form of fully extended belly/rorqual pleats at the surface as well as some flukes and pectoral fins sticking into the air as the whale turned from its back to its side onto its stomach once more. We soon saw there were 2 humpbacks heading over towards us, one of which turned out to be a local celebrity Davy Jones II, a rather curious and playful whale! If his notched dorsal fin and unique fluke pattern wasn't already a dead give-away, his shenanigans certainly lived up to his reputation, as we would dive really close to our boat and sneak up behind us for his next loud blow. We also got to hear him trumpeting! At one point, 4 humpbacks converged on the same spot, so we got nice close looks at them in all directions around us! With our time slowly running out, and being beyond satisfied with this exciting show we were treated to, we started heading back towards the harbour, perhaps a little more wet than when we left, but with an absolutely priceless experience and adventure under our belts.

Crew: - Captain Gulli & Guide Orsi