Whale Diary

09:00 - This morning, even though it was cloudy, the conditions for whale watching were great. There was almost no wind, and some swell which made the tour quite fun. Luckily, there were no white caps so it was quite easy for us to spot whales and dolphins. At the beginning of the tour we found a minke whale it was a big individual and we were able to see it a couple of times before it disappeared underwater. We continued sailing and we spotted a blow in the horizon, it was a humpback whale! Compared to the minke, this whale was huge and we were able to see its beautiful white fluke every time it went for a deeper dive. Since we still had time, we went for a little sail to see what else we could find. We found another minke, this time it was a bit more shy, which it is not surprising for minkes but we were able to take a look at it before we continued sailing. Before going back to the harbour, we stopped by the humpback we saw at the beginning to spend some time with it before heading back to the islands where we could see the last puffins of the season. 

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Guillermo

10:00 - We were very lucky on todays tour. Early on in the tour we were blessed with a humpback whale. It was regularly showing off its large fluke. It was traveling quite fast so we had to try to keep up with it. After spending quite some time with this individual we headed away to find something else. A pod of roughly 15 white-beaked dolphins appeared and they were likely the best dolphins I have ever had as a guide. For a very long time they were interacting with our boat and acted playful. They were bow riding and we got so close to them on our side and could see them looking at us with their eyes even. Their large bodies made us feel very small. We were also able to clearly see the white beak. They kept leaping out of the water in all directions and surprising us constantly. The sea conditions were so nice today so we saw their bodies through the water many times. They went underneath us and went on their sides, looking at us through the water. It was absolutely incredible! There were some young individuals in the pod too. As we left the pod they started to jump and splash a lot in the distance. Another humpback whale was found that came close to us and showed off its beautiful flukes multiple times. We had such a great day today!

Crew: Captain Kylie & Guide Frida

12:00 - This morning we had a truly unexpected tour! When we left the harbour and sailed a little bit further onto the bay, we spotted a minke whale in the distance. As we approached, the minke became very curious and decided to come close to us. Sometimes, it was only a meter away from our rib boat, swimming around us for quite some time. It was one of the best  minke encounters we've ever had. Minkes are usually shy, so seeing one interacting with the boat like this made this experience even more special. We decided to leave the minke and check out a blow in the distance, it was a humpback whale. When we were sailing to have a better look at it, this whale decided to breach! When we got close enough, we could recognize this whale, it was Neila, a female humpback that has already come to this bay for a few years. We were running out of time so we started to head back to port. However, right before entering the harbour, we saw a young humpback whale lunge feeding right in front of the city. It was the best way possible to finish the tour. 

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Guillermo

13:00 - The sea was quite flat this afternoon and we ventured a bit further northeast into the bay to visit Lundey island. Lundey is a breeding colony for many seabirds during the summer, including for the puffins. Although the breeding season is now pretty much over, we could still find a few dozen puffins hanging around the island's coast. We then left and ventured West into the bay to try and find some whales. The first sighting happened some 10 miles from the coast and it was a humpback whale called Neila. This is a female humpback whale who has been coming to our bay since 2021 and, as usual, was very calm and friendly with us, surfacing multiple times close to us. Neila seemed to be feeding or searching for food, the whole time we were around, so after some minutes, we left her and went to search for more whales. Our second sighting was of a large minke whale, which seemed to be about eight meters long (a bit larger than the species' average length of seven meters). We saw these whale surfacing and diving multiple times, always in the same area, meaning this whale was also, likely feeding. On the way back to home we were surprised to find a second humpback whale, right in front of the entrance to the harbour. This was quite a small animal, for a humpback, likely a juvenile with less than 10 meters. The whale also seemed to be feeding on fish close to the harbour, making us think that the whole bay was full of fish today. We only spent a few (but pleasant) minutes with this whale, before getting back in the harbour and finishing the tour.

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Ricardo, Captain Kylie & Guide Frida

15:00 - This afternoon we started our tour with an amazing encounter with a very beautiful and small humpback whale which was right next to the harbour, by the puffin islands. This whale was quite small so it might be a young individual, probably spending its first summer in Iceland. We could see it lunge feeding right next to us, it was also quite easy to track it since it had a flock of seabirds following it from above. After spending some time with it, we decided to move forward and keep looking in deeper regions of the bay. While we were sailing, we passed by a pair of harbour porpoises but when we stopped the boat, they didn't appear again. Since this species is quite shy, we didn't spend too much time trying to find them and we kept looking for something else. In the distance we saw another blow from another humpback. This whale was way bigger than the first humpback we saw which indicated that it was a fully grown individual. After enjoying some beautiful fluke dives right next to the boat, we decided to start our way back to the harbour, but before finishing the tour we stopped for a few minutes with the first humpback that we've seen to wave her a warm goodbye. 

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Guillermo

16:00 - Our sightings started extremely early in the tour, which was out of the ordinary. Barely having left the harbour, we had a humpback whale cruising around that we could follow for quite some time. It is so rare to have a whale this close to shore! After some time we headed out in the open ocean to try to find some other encounters. Luckily we found a minke whale that showed itself a couple of times. The next sighting was another humpback whale. This one was coming close to us and we felt very small compared to its big size. Out of nowhere it did an enormous full breach out of the water. It was absolutely incredible and chocked all of us on the boat. It was such a big individual and the breach created a huge splash. We headed back to the harbour but it seemed like the tour was not over yet. The same humpback whale that we started off with close to land was now directly by the mouth of the harbour and even went inside. Crazily enough it even started to lunge feed! Lots of birds were around and they were catching a lot of small fish so it seemed to be a big school of fish in there, attracting the whale. It was insanely rare to see a whale inside the harbour and to witness people from shore making videos off it everywhere. This has never happened to me as a guide before. What an incredible day we had today!

Crew: Captain Kylie & Guide Frida

19:00 - We had the most wholesome tour this evening. Immediately after leaving the harbour, we found a young humpback whale who has spent most of the day by Reykjavík's coast. Eventually, the whale chased some fish into the harbour, surprising a lot of people in there. We then left the humpback and went back to sea. But, immediately after leaving the harbour, we had another sighting, this time of five harbour porpoises swimming together, close to Engey island. These tiny, cute mammals were busy feeding and we only spent a few minutes with them. We did a quick visit to a nearby island, Akurey, where multiple seabirds were hanging around, including puffins, arctic skuas and arctic terns. Eventually, we ventured into deeper waters to search for more wildlife. We were surprised by a pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins who rapidly approached us and started interacting with us, riding in front of our boat, spy-hopping and generally, just being friendly and funny. Our captain then saw a big agglomeration in the horizon, with dozens of birds. We approached them to investigate and found two humpback whales swimming in the area, as well as three minke whales. The area was likely full of fish and all these whales and seabirds were feasting, providing an amazing show of wildlife for us. Eventually, we ran out of time and had to return to Reykjavík, extremely happy to have seen all of our four common species in a single tour, all while having great weather (flat seas and good visibility)!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Ricardo