Whale Diary

12:00 - We expected rough seas and we were not proven wrong. After a quick stop at Engey where we spotted some puffins on the water, we headed off into Faxafloí bay. Big swell and lots of wind made for a bumpy ride and an adrenaline rush we all enjoyed! A shape coming out of the water caught the attention of the crew. A minke whale was breaching! We kept looking in that direction and some of us were lucky enough to see it again! After that the whale came up two more times, very quickly swimming away from us. A pod of 4 harbour porpoises showed up, zooming around us for a few seconds before disappearing in the waves. We searched the bay for an hour more without any luck of finding something else. Although we did see some wildlife on this tour, not everybody got a good look. So we gave out complimentary tickets for a second chance at seeing whales and dolphins in this beautiful bay. 

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Janiek 

14:00 - With adventurous spirits, we ventured out again in the afternoon - the seas were still quite wavy, however with all the beauty around us it just added to the thrill. Our first stop was by Engey island, to admire the Atlantic puffins. There was plenty, and we could watch them fly over the boat, float beside us, and we could also spot them by their burrows on the island itself. After this cuteness overload, we continued our journey further out in the bay in the search for whales. After about 20 minutes of driving, more and more seabirds started to appear - we could see plenty of the large Northern gannets plunge diving for fish and at the same time 4 storm petrels flew past. How special, to see the largest seabird in the North Atlantic, just next to the smallest one! Suddenly, an unpleasant smell appeared, could that be a Minke whale close by? We stopped to search, but we had no whale in sight. Therefore we continued on, and soon were treated to the sight of a tall blow! As we got closer we discovered it was a humpback whale. We were able to watch this individual perform some beautiful deep dives, showing of the grand fluke just in front of us multiple times. After this beautiful encounter, we headed back to the city full of new memories. 

Crew: Captain Pedro& Guide Maja

16:00 - The seas had calmed down a bit compared to earlier but it was still an adventurous ride. Fortunately, that´s what we are here for! We stopped by Engey first for a visit to the puffins. There were loads of them in the water and we saw them stumbling across the rocks before setting course for the North Atlantic ocean. We heard rumors about something big in the distance so we headed over there. On the way there, a minke whale showed up but this individual was a bit tricky to follow. We did observe some beautiful plunge diving Northern gannets before continuing our journey. As we approached the area where we were hoping to find wildlife, a eagle-eyed passenger spotted a blow of a humpback whale! This beautiful animal was busy feeding, going for dives and staying under for a long time. We observed this whale for a while, before running into two more minke whales. These whales were surfacing all around us, with one much bigger than the other one. On our way back home, we even ran into a pod of white-beaked dolphins! The big dolphins were not interested in us, showing elusive behaviour and staying under for quite some time, so we respected their space and continued towards Reykjavik. On the way we had some company with minke whales popping up in every direction, so a very busy afternoon at sea!

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Janiek

20:00 - We spent this Saturday evening at the best party in town, surrounded by whales! The bay was full of northern gannets that were plunge diving all around us. Their splashes looked suspiciously similar to blows, so at first it seemed like there were whales everywhere. Turns out - there were! In the first area we searched, we found at least five minke whales and a humpback whale. The humpback whale only came close to us for one surface sequence, and then dived for a very long time so we continued our journey westwards, further out. The search took a little bit of time, but it was so worth it because far out in the bay we found the best show we could ever have hoped for. Three humpback whales were bubblenet feeding, spyhopping, lungefeeding, and came up incredibly close to us. They were literally bubblenet feeding under our RIB, and we couldn´t believe we were in the middle of this spectacle. We struggled to leave because it just kept getting more and more exciting, but eventually we really had to head home. On the way we encountered many more minke whales, a small pod of white-beaked dolphins, and even saw a harbour seal! We couldn´t have asked for a better wildlife show, so thank you nature! 

Crew: Captain Steini Elías & Guide Eline, Captain Emily & Guide Hannah