Whale Diary

09:00 - Today was nothing short of amazing, and I think everyone on the boat can agree on this. We started off the tour with a minke whale that was quite close to shore. It showed itself a couple of times, but it was definitely a bit shy, so we carried on our journey. Just while driving away we had two more minke whale encounters, but just surfacing once right in front of the boat. A big spout was seen in the distance, followed by a black back, and we directed the boat there. This happened to be a humpback whale. We had the privilege of being alone with this individual for quite some time and it got very close to us. We could hear loud exhales and see the white pectorial fins very clearly. It offered some gorgeous fluke dives over and over and we could get a good sense of the sheer size of it. It also made our jobs very easy by resurfacing frequently. When the other boats approached we left in order to search for something else. A lot of bird activity was happening a bit further out so we had a stop - although without any luck. Another blow was spotted, this time another humpback whale. We watched it fluke once or twice and carried back to our first humpback whale of the tour. It still fluked very nicely, but something else caught our attention - an extremely nice minke whale. As a guide this is the first time I ever have an encounter like this. This seemingly young individual was so curious and came so close to us. It did laps around our boat and but its snout out the water many times, stunning us all. You could even see the minke mittens through the water! We created a raft with the two other þrumas and had the individual just circling around us over and over. We could also stay for a long time. Absolutely incredible encounter!

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Frida

10:00 - This morning, we started our adventure by sailing to the island of Akurey to take a look at the last puffins of the season. They were very busy fishing and trying to get rid of the Arctic skuas that were attempting to steal their fish. A few minutes after leaving the island, we spotted a humpback whale in the distance. While we were waiting for it to come back to the surface, a very friendly minke whale came to have a closer look at us. This whale swam around the boat for quite a long time. It was so close to us that we could see its beautiful, pointy snout every time it surfaced next to us, as well as its cute "mittens" on its pectoral fins. Even though we were having a great time with this whale, we decided to move on and check on the humpback whale that had led us to this spot. This whale was very nice and treated us to some beautiful fluke dives. However, since we were still close to the city, we decided to sail a little farther out to see what else we could find. Through the mist, we saw another blow, which turned out to be another humpback whale. This whale was quite calm around us and surfaced a couple of times close to the boat, which made its fluke dives even more beautiful. Unfortunately, we were running out of time, so it was time to sail back to the city. However, we were all more than happy with such an amazing tour.

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Guillermo

12:00 - We started off the tour strongly today with a close encounter of a humpback whale. It came very close to our boat and we could see the body through the water quite well with its very big white pectorial fins. It was doing wonderful fluke dives over and over. It was traveling very quickly in a certain direction so we had to do quite fast drives in between the resurfaces, but it added to the experience seeing how fast and powerful these animals can be. We headed out a bit further in the bay to try to find anything else, but without any luck. We did a big loop and headed back to try to reconnect with the first individual, but it seemed to have been traveling further out by this point. We decided to have a look at one of the breeding islands for puffins so we could have a look at the last remaining puffins for the season before they head out. Many of them had lots of fish hanging out from the beaks which was very cool to see! What a wonderful day at sea today!

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Frida

13:00 - Early this afternoon, we headed out from the harbour, heading to the island of Akurey to catch some of the last glimpses we get to see of the Atlantic puffins this summer season. As we tried to make our way over, we were actually interrupted by a minke whale, which was swimming between Engey and Akurey, an unexpected but much welcomed sighting of this shy species. We then made our stop at Akurey to see the Atlantic puffins, before continuing out into the bay. We stopped in a promising area to take a longer look around, and spotted a pod of 4 harbour porpoises! What a lovely encounter with these tiny, skittish cetaceans. We then did a big loop out in the bay, but our search came up empty, so we kept an eager eye out along our way back towards Reykjavík, and sure enough, we soon spotted a blow. As we headed closer, it became clear that there were actually 2 humpback whales in the area, initially quite far apart, but suddenly one seemed to be swimming in towards the other. The whale further away began feeding deep beneath the surface, as evidenced by some energetic surfaces as well as the end movements to some lunges, and the one closer to us was speedily heading over. As we approached, the two whales met up, and began swimming side-by-side. We stayed with these two humpbacks that paired up right before our eyes, until we had to start making our way back to port. What a wonderful afternoon tour!

Crew: Captain Kylie & Orsi

15:00 - We barely headed out from land until we were blessed with our first encounter of today. Not only one, but two humpback whales. They were extremely active, doing bubble net feeding and fluking intensely! We could see the bubbles coming up in a spiral followed by the two individuals coming up in the middle with their mouths wide open. You could see directly into their mouth and see their baleen plates, very cool! One of the individuals even even stayed with its head out of the water with mouth closed for long stretches which was cool because we could closely see its tubercles. They repeated this collaborative feeding technique over and over, every time leaving us surprised. When we least expected it they appeared super close to the boat. We got a long time together with the pair until we decided to check out some other areas further out in the bay. By the time we were heading back we stumbled upon a third humpback whale that showed us some nice fluke dives. The tour then continued towards the puffin islands to look at the last remaining puffins. Such a good day!

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Frida

16:00 - This afternoon we started the tour with a very nice encounter with a minke whale. It was very close to the harbour so we could spend some time with this big individual every time it surfaced to take a breath. This species is normally a bit shy but this time it didn't surfaced too far away from us. We left the minke and tried to look for something else. While we were sailing west, we spotted the blows of a pair of humpback whales. They were having a feast and we were very lucky to see one of them bubble net feeding and lunge feeding a couple of times. Since we didn't want to bother the same whales for a long time, we left this pair and went for a little sail. Before finishing the tour, we spotted another humpback. This whale was bigger than the other ones we've seen before, and it even surfaced right in front of the boat, which made us all jump because we were not expecting it. After a few fluke dives, we realized we recognized this whale, it was Niela! Always lovely to see a familiar face (fluke). After so many lovely encounters, we decided to head back to port. What a lovely tour!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Guillermo, Captain Kylie & Orsi

19:00 - This evening, we headed out onto the bay with a bit of drizzle that luckily passed over us very quickly. Our first stop was at the island of Akurey, were we got to see the Atlantic puffins before they head out into the open ocean once their breeding season comes to a close. We then headed out deeper into the bay and soon spotted the blow of a humpback whale. Not just any humpback whale, it was a well known individual, Niela, who was moving around quite a lot, and very clearly chasing schools of fish beneath the surface. We got to see a couple of impressive lunges close-by, and the birds were very excited to pick off all the left-over fish from the surface. We stayed with Niela for a good long while, joining her for dinner on this lovely evening. We decided to have a quick look around deeper in the bay, and spotted a juvenile minke whale! This little cutey was rather curious in the beginning and then moved on quite quickly, and so did we. We soon spotted 3 blows in the distance, but as they were far apart, we had to choose the one closest to us, and spent the rest of our time with this second humpback. There were signs that all 4 humpbacks (the 2 we spent some time with and the 2 further off in distance) were feeding, with some lunges and excited birds tipping us off. So, with such a successful tour, we headed for the port and made our way back. 

Crew: Captain Kylie & Guide Orsi