Whale Diary

10:00 - This morning, we had wonderful conditions with little wind and a calm sea. We sailed out and admired the Atlantic puffins around Akurey. We saw them flying, diving and, waddling on the island. Then we set off into the bay in search of cetaceans. We found a humpback whale quite fast! It was a bit fluke-shy at first. But after a few dives, we got to see the fluke and moved on to another humpback whale in the area! Because there were just our two ribs in the area, we got to stay a while with this whale. This one was showing us its fluke on every dive so we got to properly admire it. Then, it was time to start returning to port. On the way, we saw some more puffins. When we arrived back in Reykjavik, everyone was still buzzing from the excitement of seeing the whales.

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Hannah, Captain Emily & Guide Anna

12:00 - We headed out onto a peaceful bay with beautiful visibility, and the sun shining through a thin veil of cloud cover. After a brief stop to look at Atlantic puffins at Akurey, we headed deep into the bay eager to spot cetaceans. We spotted some sharp dark shapes in the water and stopped to take a good long look around. It was a group of 6-7 white-beaked dolphins! These cetaceans were quite curious and inquisitive, coming up really close, diving directly under our boat, and raising their eyes above the surface of the water to get a good look at us. We stayed with this group for a while and were treated to a total of 3 boat inspections, most often instigated by what appeared to be their youngest member, a juvenile! Suddenly, they began leaping next to the boat, seemingly following alongside us, and one particularly active individual treated us to a series of breaches and head slaps! As the group began circling in an area, we decided it was best to leave them to their very important dolphin business and see what else the bay had in store for us. So, we continued on, and our captain caught sight of a blow in the distance. As we headed closer, we saw the dark back of a humpback whale resting and breathing near the surface. As we got close, the whale appeared to go for a deeper dive, arching its back rather dramatically. All of a sudden, it breached! A gorgeous display of the acrobatic nature this species is famous for! After a few quick breaths, we saw the arch again, and were treated to a second breach! After all this excitement, we got to spend a lovely couple minutes with this individual, which seemed to have tired itself out, and was once again calmly resting near the surface. Waving goodbye, we headed back towards the harbour. What a magical tour!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Orsi

14:00 - With gorgeous conditions continuing to deliver, we headed out again. We stopped by Akurey to check out the Atlantic puffins. We saw a bunch of them floating on the surface. As they were setting off for flight, we observed them hitting their orange feet on the water for take-off and stretch them out as they started flying. Then, we went out into the bay to search for cetacean! We found a humpback whale not too long after that. Everyone was in awe of its fluke display. We went into exploration mode in search of more animals out in the bay. After a bit, we found a flock of Northern gannets and learnt about their diving behaviour. On our way back, we passed by the same humpback whale again and got to see a very nice fluke dive nearby. Sadly, it was time to return to port, so we started heading back, but it was a lovely time out at sea.

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Hannah

16:00 - This afternoon, we headed out into the bay with the afternoon sun painting the sky pastel pink and orange. After a brief stop at the Atlantic puffin colony on Akurey we headed out into the bay. We looked far and wide for any signs of cetaceans, but our patience and persistence was tested. Suddenly, our eagle-eyed captain spotted some sharp dark fins slicing through the water, a pair of white-beaked dolphins! We followed this pair for a couple of minutes, but as they were being elusive and a bit evasive, we decided to respect their space and continue on. We took a nice long loop around the bay, but ultimately had to start heading back towards the harbour. On our way, we spotted some harbour porpoises which definitely lived up to their elusive reputation, and so we only saw a couple glimpses of them. So, in the end, we offered our guests complimentary tickets, so that they may come back and try their luck again, to hopefully see some more sociable cetaceans in the bay with us.

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Orsi

20:00 - We sailed out with a little bit of a drizzle overhead, but could see a beautiful sunset in the distance. First we stopped by to admire our Atlantic puffin colony before heading out into the bay. We sailed quite far before we spotted a rather unusual dorsal fin, much larger than what we commonly spot in this area. As we got closer we realized we had a pod of 7 orcas! There was one very large male and even some juveniles in the pod which were amazing to see. With calm conditions we admired them as they provided us with many surface intervals. It was so calm that we could even hear them as the surfaced for a breath. After an incredible encounter, the pod started to move onward and so we waved them goodbye and went to see who else we could spot in the bay. After a wide search it was looking as if we might not have any other cetaceans around, even though there were many flocks of seabirds happily eating this evening. Just as we were about to turn back we spotted one harbor porpoise. This individual surfaced once and then continued onward, however, as we were looking about for them we spotted a blow in the distance. We then went to check it out and came across one humpback whale! This individual provided us with two really beautiful fluke dives and a few very nice surface intervals. We could hear them as well as they surfaced for a breath, which was amazing. After a wonderful evening on the bay, we waved our cetaceans goodbye and headed back to port. What a great way to end the day!

Crew: Captain Eggert & Guide Sam