Whale Diary

09:00 - This morning, we headed out onto the calm bay under a gloomy cloud cover. We had a bit of drizzle along the way, but it was quite lovely conditions for spotting overall. On our way out, we spotted a minke whale, which was quite small, most likely a juvenile. We continued on for a while, when we suddenly had our eyes on some splashes ahead, a very active white-beaked dolphin breaching in the distance! We headed over and found a couple of these dolphins scattered in a rather large area. We stuck with 3 individuals that swam closer to us, swimming under our boat at one point, swimming in our wake, with one of them popping up right next to the boat! We also saw another group of around 3 dolphins off in the distance, when one of them started breaching once more, and even performing some nice leaps. We continued on, in hopes of finding something larger ahead, and stopped to look around in an area with a lot of seabirds. We spotted a blow, and headed over to the fluke dive of a humpback whale. This individual had a gorgeous fluke, but was diving for quite a while each time, so we stuck around for a couple more surfacing sequences, before making our way back towards Reykjavík. This was the moment, one of our boats spotted a harbour seal to their right. It was bottling, then took a little look at us before it disappeared. On our way back, we spotted another blow, the second humpback whale of the tour. We actually recognized this individual, it was Harbour Master, named after the feeding session this whale had inside the Old Harbour in Reykjavík about a month ago. Always nice to see a familiar face (or in this case, dorsal fin and fluke). We continued on our way back and got to see 5-6 harbour porpoises before reaching the harbour. What a calm morning!

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Orsi, Captain Emily & Guide Hannah

12:00 - During midday, conditions remained the same. So we suited up and went into the bay with its icy wind and magnificent wildlife. Our fist encounter was a pod of around 5 harbour porpoises. They were swimming all around and we were excited to see their small triangular dorsal fins zooming past. After a bit we moved on. We were looking out for more cetaceans and spotted a blow on our right. We went to investigate and found the humpback whale Cheeseburger. She was treating us to some very chill surface sequences with some light logging. Each time she went for a deeper dive, she showed off her fluke. We got to get quite close to her a few times. Clsoeby, we also spotted a minke whale that we observed surfacing a few times. It was so cool! We did a little exploration loop and eventually started driving back to Reykjavik. Around the islands, we did another stop to see if a humpback whale would show up there as we knew of one in the area. We only managed a glimpse from afar, but it was still nice to see another one!

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Hannah

15:00 - In the afternoon, the clouds began breaking up a bit, letting rays of sunshine through. The conditions were pristine, with the calm water a gorgeous silver color. Our first sighting was a pod of 3 rather curious harbour porpoises, a lovely treat to get a look at this rather elusive and shy species so up close. We also spotted a minke whale making brief appearances in the distance! At one point, this minke was had rolled onto its side, most likely feeding in the area. We soon had our eyes on a blow nearby, a humpback whale, the first of the tour. It was actually an individual we recognized, affectionately known as Harbour Master, named after the fact that it swam into Reykjavík Old Harbour on August 20th for a feeding session. Evidently, it was also feeding as we approached, as we got to see the end of a massive lunge (plus the minke feeding nearby as well as the presence of very active harbour porpoises was another hint that there was a lot of food nearby). As this whale was very busy feeding, we continued on, and came across a small pod of 3 white-beaked dolphins that came over to bow ride a little bit before seemingly disappearing. So, we continued on, and soon had our eyes on some more blows ahead, this time it was a pair of humpbacks! Again, we recognized one of these individuals, it was Cheese Burger, we had been seeing her a lot lately, most often hanging out with at least one other whale (although not always the same one). We stayed with this lovely duo, until we spotted more blows nearby, so we headed over. On our way, we spotted and Arctic tern, which was rather strange, as most of them have left for the winter already. As we got closer to the blows, we realized it was a trio of humpbacks, very calm and restful at the surface. We stayed with this final group until our time ran out and it was time to head back to Reykjavík. What a lovely afternoon out on the bay!

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Orsi, Captain Emily & Guide Hannah