Whale Diary

10:00 -  This morning the foggy conditions continued, although this didn't stop us from spotting plenty of wildlife in the bay. Our first sighting was of a playful pod of about 20 white beaked dolphins. We watched as they swam all around our boat, making a few jumps and some even swimming up just next to us. In the same area, a humpback whale showed up, and we could see multiple beautiful fluke dives and hear the spouts as it came up to the surface for some breaths. As we watched the humpback whale, a young and curious harbour seal swam up to have a look at us with its big round eyes. On our way back to the harbour we stopped by Akurey to watch countless of puffins, both on land and in the water. What a wonderful morning with so many close encounters!  

Crew: Captain Óðinn & Guide Maja, Captain Miquel & Guide Rachel

12:00 - We headed out into the bay today - it was pretty foggy at first, but the sea was calm and felt promising. About half an hour in, we spotted our first species, a small pod of 3 harbour porpoises. They came up a few times, gave us a quick look, and then disappeared. Not long after, we saw a minke whale! It didn’t stick around for long, but we then started hearing some rumours on the radio—something bigger had been spotted further out. So we continued out and were lucky enough to come across a pod of white-beaked dolphins. Then finally we saw a big blow - a humpback whale! It was feeding on its side, and there were loads of birds circling around it. We saw the fluke a few times too before making our way back home.

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Maria

14:00 -  Fantastic marine life in the Bay. The foggy conditions persisted throughout the tour, although the sun did try to shine through a couple of times! After a stop at Akurey to admire the Atlantic puffins, we headed out in to the Bay and first stopped to enjoy some white beaked dolphin action. These dolphins seemed busy feeding so we did not stick around too long but carried on to see what we could find. Before long we started seeing lots of feeding birds and sighted a minke whale which appeared to be lunge feeding as we approached. We enjoyed some great views of this whale and then carried on to see if we could find some humpback whales reported further out in the bay. We found our first humpback and watched it for a few minutes. It seemed to be taking a breath or two and then disappearing, so we headed even further out to check out another humpback. This whale was taking regular dives and doing some bubble netting. We spotted some jumping dolphins in the distance, but we decided to stay with the humpback and were well rewarded when it started lunge feeding repeatedly in front of us. We watched this whale until all too soon, it was time to head back in to the harbour. 

Crew: Captain Óðinn & Guide Maja, Captain Miquel & Guide Rachel

16:00 -  We set off into the bay still with some fog, but the sea was calm and smooth. Early on, we spotted a minke whale—brief but exciting. We knew that there was a lot of activity further out so we sailed out. On the way, we came across a pod of 5-10 white-beaked dolphins, zipping around the boat. Further out, we found two humpback whales feeding—they were lunge feeding, bursting up through the water, and one of the whales even did a bubble net, surrounded by diving birds. Incredible behavior to witness up close. After some great views, we turned back after another amazing day at sea

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Maria

20:00 -  The fog greeted us once again as we made our way out into the bay. First, we stopped at Akurey island where we watched puffins soar above us! Then, we made our way further into the bay where we first encountered one humpback whale that showed us its fluke a few times! Close by to this humpback, was a small pod of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins that we spotted briefly before they disappeared. In the distance, we saw some big splashes happening so we moved forward to investigate. Once we arrived, we found another humpback whale, but this one had mostly calmed down by that point, giving us a few tail-throws before we moved on. Once again we spotted another big splash up ahead, and found our third humpback whale! As we had spent some time with it and were about to leave, it suddenly breached and began pec-slapping and tail throwing near us, compelling us to stay a bit longer to admire the power of this whale! On the way back to land, we were suddenly stopped in our tracks as we saw yet another breaching whale close by! This time, it was not a humpback whale, it was a minke whale! This minke breached 3 times for us, before continuing on at full speed, porpoising and head-slapping its way around the bay. We returned to land still reeling with excitement from this spectacular evening!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Sigrún