Species seen today: humpback whales, minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, harbour porpoises

Birds seen today: Atlantic puffin, black guillemot, common guillemot, razorbill, great black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, great cormorant, greylag geese, common eider duck, Arctic tern, Arctic skua

10:00 - This morning the water looked like a swimming pool, perfect conditons. As normal we stopped in Engey to see some atlantic puffins they are are full of sandeels on the beak bringing them to the pufflings. The minke whales and the white beaked dolphins keep feeding a lot in the bay so they are everywhere. After enjoying our time with this animals we went to try to find the humpback whales. Other boat informed us in the radio that they had 1 humpback whale so we went to check. Indeed it was 1 humpback whale very relax at the surface feeding with some dolphins and just a few meters away another one appeared so at this moment we were sorrounded by 2 Humpback whales and multiple dolphins. The conditions were amazing and the animals as well so we stayed there until the last minute possible and then we had to start to head back to the harbour. 

Crew: Captain Daniel & Eggert; Guide Rodrigo & Melanie 

12:00 - A little rain cannot stop us from going to the middle of Faxafói. So after a quick stop by Akurey to check on the puffins we did that! The rain never stopped and after half an hour of searching, we saw a glimpse of a cetacean! A pod of 5 to 6 white-beaked dolphins were traveling. They were playing a bit with us so we stayed for a while. We set out to try to see more than just dolphins but that's what we got again, another pod of 4 to 5 white-beaked dolphins. We went to the previous spot where the whales had been seen the day before but we didn't find any and the time was up. On the way back we saw a minke whale coming at touching distance from us but we never saw it again. We offered complimentary tickets since the sightings weren't good enough.

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Pedro

14:00 -  During this tour we got lucky enough to observe 3 of our main cetacean species. We started by seeing some white beaked dolphins, a pod of 3 to 6 individuals that came to greet us and ride the wake of our boat for a few moments. Then they suddenly left and we decided to continue toward an area where we heard there might be a bigger species around. We then saw a humpback whale, this whale was surrounded by a pod of about 10 dolphins jumping in the same area that the whale was in. Suddenly it was not just one but 3 blows we had around us, 3 humpback whales were around probably feeding and we got some good looks on a few of the individuals. After some time with the whales we decided to move toward an area where we saw smaller whales, and it was minke whales that suddenly were all around us. Quite impossible to say how many there was, but probably at least 10 to more. Including a few that we got a good look of (and that we could also smell quite well). Overall a really nice trip. 

Crew: Captain Eggert &Guide Melanie

16:00 - The wind had picked up when we started this tour in the bay. We got quite a bit of waves on our way out, but our passengers looked pleased by the waves and movement of the boat. Because of the waves it took us a while to reach the area where we had seen our cetacean species on the previous tour, and we definetely did get a bit of spray during the ride. But when we got to the area we got rewarded by not just 1 but at least 5 humpback whales and a good 10 to 20 white beaked dolphins feeding. Our captain Daniel is the one that managed to spot these blows in the waves, and everyone was absolutely amazed by how impressive these animals can be when all feeding together. The whales were not shy and even passed really close to the boat, along with the dolphins that looked like they had the best time surfing our waves. We stayed a while with these animals and enjoyed the sight before we had to head back toward the harbour in the waves, under the rain. It was definetely a great sighting that our passengers will never forget.

Crew: Captain Daniel &Guide Melanie

20:00 - It was still quite wavy for this tour, but we had warned our passengers in advance that it might be a bit choppy still out in the open sea. Everyone was ready for the challenge, so off we went looking for wildlife. We started by a ride in the waves, seemingly a bit like a rollercoaster where everyone did enjoy the fun of a speed boat ride. After some time we reached an area where we had seen some animals before. As we searched the area nothing appeared, no signs of animals. As we were searching we got a call from another boat to advise us that they had seen 2 whales close to the harbour. We then headed back, still under the rain and in a bit of waves to try to see these animals. As we got to the whales, we got the chance of only seeing them once it was some humpback whales. Funny enough as soon as we got to the area the whales disappeared, no one managed to see them again not even the bigger boat close to us. Quite impressive how such big animals can just decide to disappear. We searched for a while but it was already time to head back toward the harbour. Our passengers seem to have been satisfied by this fun boat ride, nonetheless when we got back home we gave our passengers some complimentary tickets to come back on our bigger boats of our sister company Elding and hopefully enjoy a better view of the wildlife in the bay.

Crew: Captain Eggert & Guide Melanie

Today we are running a full schedule of whale watching with tours at 1000, 1400, 1600 and 2000, and puffin watching at 0900, 1000 1300 & 1600. 

For more information come see us at Ægisgarður 5D, call us on +354 497 0000

or email us at info@whalesafari.is