Whale Diary

10:00 - The sea was a bit choppy this morning, with a few water splashes entering our boat, making our overall suits very useful today. We saw puffins and various other birds by Akurey island, before sailing out to search for whales. Our first sighting was a humpback whale, which we saw performing various breaths in between its dives. Our boat´s echosounder (used to measure water depth) detected a large shadow underneath us, which was likely a large school of fish. Therefore, the whale was likely feeding on these fish. We moved on and, eventually, found a second humpback. This was a young adult, and it surprised us at one point, when it started breaching non-stop, for various minutes. After an amazing show with this whale, we returned back to Reykjavík, full of happy passengers.

Crew: Captain Emily  & Guide Ricardo, Captain Miquel & Guide Milan

12:00 - In the harbour it was warm and sunny, but as soon as we left the harbour the wind picked up and we were happy to be in our warm overalls. We made a quick stop at Engey to look at some adorable puffins. A splash to the right got our attention; it was a grey seal looking right at us! This one was very curious, but we couldn´t spend a lot of time with it because we were off in the North Atlantic. It wasn´t long before we spotted a blow in the distance and then we saw not one but two humpback whales going for a dive! One of them surfaced close and we could followed it on its journey by the fluke prints on the surface. We spend some time with this individual and then decided to continue. It took all but 5 seconds to find the next blow and this humpback whale was feeding on some fish in the deep. It even did a roll, so we could see the massive pectoral fin coming out of the water. After a beautiful fluke dive we said goodbye to this whale and made our way back to port.

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Janiek, 

14:00 - The sea was still a bit rough after lunchtime, but still in good conditions for whale watching. As in the morning, we first visited Akurey island, saw some cute puffins there and then, headed out to find whales. We soon found a pair of humpback whales, swimming almost in synchrony, while they were (likely) searching for food. We hanged around for a bit with these two, before moving out. We didn´t have to search for long, before we found a second pair of humpbacks. These, however, were being accompanied by dozens of birds (kittiwakes, lesser black-backed gulls and arctic terns), flying above them. These two were likely feeding, bringing fish close to the surface, after which the birds could try their chance at snatching a few fish from the sea surface.

Crew: Captain Emily  & Guide Ricardo

16:00 - Based on the morning, it promised to be a bumpy ride and it was. First we stopped by Engey for a visit to the puffins and then we headed to the ocean. It was quite the adventure navigating these waves but we all enjoyed the adrenaline rush! After a while we spotted three blows on the horizon! A trio of humpback whales feeding around us, even coming very close to the boat. Among them was famous Davy Jones II, always nice to see a regular. Then some splashes in the distance, so we went over to check it out. It turned out to be a humpback whale throwing its tail around. Absolutely impressive to see, but we suspected this whale did not appreciate our presence so we left them alone and found another one that was feeding. This one did not mind our boat so we stayed a while. We headed back to Reykjavik and we all got a very close encounter with the North Atlantic ocean as it sprayed into the boat. We didn´t mind tho and it was happy smiles all around!

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Janiek,