Whale Diary

09:00 - In an area called Melakrikki, we spotted a mother and calf pair of white-beaked dolphins, who were very curious about the boat. They later merged with a larger pod, and the calf started jumping all around the place. There were lots of birds everywhere, and we admired the northern gannets and puffins and other seabirds flying all around us. On our way back to Reykjavík, we came across another pod of probably 5 white-beaked dolphins, who started bowriding. After this dolphin-themed tour, we happily sailed back into the harbour with the waves in our back.

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Eline

10:00 - We first stopped by Engey to say hello to the last puffins that are still hanging around the islands and then headed north. With a slightly bumpy but fun ride we travelled and searched the bay and encountered a puffling floating solitary around. Then we found an area with an abundance of birds, gannets, puffins, arctic terns, gulls and more and decided to slow down and search this area more thoroughly. Suddenly a passenger started to see a few splashes, diving gannets but then suddenly a bigger splash,  beaching minke whale, it kept breaching till we got close enough to see it surfacing normally, swimming this way and then that it was hard but not impossible to see it a number of times. Then suddenly we thought we were still seeing it but instead it was a pod of about 3-5 white-beaked dolphins that came straight to our boat and started bow riding. They did this for while but alas time was getting on and we had to start heading home. 

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Knut

12:00 - We wanted to explore the South of Faxaflói during this tour, so we set off against the waves in search of some whales. We found a humpback whale, who suddenly started throwing his peduncle in the air and slapping his tailfin! In the distance, we spotted a minke whale, but the humpback stole the show and grabbed all our attention with his acrobatics. After some really close looks, we headed back in the direction of Reykjavík and encountered one or two harbour porpoises very briefly. Then we spotted a minke whale close to Engey (an island very close to the harbour). The minke whale came up quite frequently, but when she started swimming towards the bay we left her and sailed into harbour. 

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Eline

13:00 - We sailed out and were met with some dense fog and a wet and wild ride. We went to an area in the bay where cetaceans had been feeding earlier to check if they were still around. While we did have two solitary minke whales, they were on a mission of their own and so after some nice but brief surface intervals they were off to waters unknown to us. We did a proper search around the bay but unfortunately no more cetaceans were sighted. So we sailed to Akurey and admired our puffins with bills full of fish before heading back to port. With very brief viewings, we offered complimentary tickets so our guests could try spotting cetaceans at another time on our classic tours.

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Sam

15:00 - On this rainy afternoon, we set off towards Kjalanes in search of a whale that our other boats had told us about. We found the humpback whale close to mount Esja, and this individual was lungefeeding actively. It came up every three minutes, and often showed us his striking fluke before chasing after some fish underwater. When the whale accelerated, we decided to wave goodbye and wanted to search for the minke whale that we had encountered earlier today. While there was no trace of the minke whale, we saw plenty of puffins around and enjoyed a fun sail close to the shoreline, with some nice views of Reykjavík and the harbour. 

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Eline

16:00 - We sailed right out into the bay and after an adventurous journey we spotted the blow of one humpback whale! This individual was actively feeding and was surfacing in all different locations, keeping us on our toes. We were treated to fluke dives and we admired how their pattern was mostly dark with white patterns on their tips. As this individual surfaced we could watch their body through the waves as they swam. After a wonderful viewing we continued. After a bit of a sail we stopped Lundi island to admired our Atlantic Puffins. While we were watching them we spotted a grey seal who became curious of us. They were admiring us as we were looking at them! We did a search around the islands and then headed back to port. What a nice tour!

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Sam