Whale Diary

10:00 - This morning we sailed out under cloudy skies, all suited up in cozy overalls, ready to face both rain and shine. We had a quick stop by Akurey, one of the puffin breeding islands, to say a last hello to the few Atlantic puffins still hanging around the Island. After, we continued our way further out into the bay, to find a whole lot of minke whales. They were surfacing all around us at various distances throughout the whole tour, and we probably saw at least 15. A few came really close, and we could even see their spout, when they came up to exhale. After some time around the minke whales, we continued on, to find another baleen species - a humpback whale, that was fluke diving and coming up to catch some breaths at the surface. Then, out of nowhere - a full breach just next to us! No  one was prepared for this empowered move, so it was a great surprise to all aboard. After, the whale was surfacing very close around the boat a few times, and we could even see some bubbles coming up from underneath. After some time with this close encounter, we headed in another direction to spot a large pod of white beaked dolphins. They were at least 20 in the pod, some of which seemed very young. We stayed with them for some time before we had to start making our way back to the harbour again. It was a lovely tour, with 3 of our 4 main species spotted.   

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Maja, Captain Kylie & Guide Milan

12:00 - We went out on the calm and flat sea. Just a few minutes outside of the harbor, we came across an elusive harbour porpoise. It surfaced a few times close to the boat. We continued our way out and  not too long after, we spotted some dorsal find appearing on the surface. IT was a pod of around 10 white-beaked dolphins. It was nice to see that they also had small young ones with them. The pod seemed not in the mood to stay close to our boat so we went on. A bit further out we came across a fast traveling minke whale. As usual it surfaced a few times before disappearing. But fortunately it was not the only one around. We had a total of 7 minke whales that we got closer to during this amazing tour.  

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Knut

14:00 - The seas were mirror flat with dense clouds above and no wind. We had a minke whale kind of afternoon today as we saw at least 15 of them spread all around the bay! They were all over so we got to see them go about their day far and close. some even came straight towards us, lifting their heads high out the water. We also got to see a pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins, which included 2 calves! They were going back and forth in the area and some of them even came to check us out! Eventually they did swim off, calves side-by-side with their moms.

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Maja, Captain Kylie & Guide Milan

15:00 - The weather was still perfect as we went out. On our way out we spotted 2 minke whales that traveled fast on the surface. We got closer and got a good look at these elegant animals. Further out we spotted the blow of a humpback whale. As we got closer, it performed some impressive fluke dives. Since it was traveling and staying under water for quite some time, we went on and found 2 white-beaked dolphins and 6 more minkies. On our way back we also found a small pod of 3 harbour porpoises as we got closer to the isle of Engey to look for the last remaining puffins of this season. We were lucky ang got really close to a few puffins that were catching fish near the island.

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Knut

19:00 - The sky cleared and so we went out with some of the most amazing light possible. After some searching we came across our fist of a total of 7 minke whales that we saw during this tour. We tried to get a bit closer, but this shy animals kept their distance this time. As we went on we spotted the fluke of a humpback whale in the distance. We got to the area and waited several minutes, but the humpback did not surface near by. Instead we spotted a large pod of white-beaked dolphins jumping playfully in the distance. We decided to go closer to them and as we did, it turned out to be a pod of at least 15 animals in total. They were jumping and tail slapping as well as swimming alongside our boat just a meter away from us. On our way back we also came across a total of 6 harbour porpoises. We returned to Reykjavik with the setting sun in our backs.

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Maja, Captain Pedro & Guide Knut