Whale Diary

10:00 - It was a beautiful day to be on the ocean; calm winds and amazing visibility. We stopped by Engey for a quick look at everybody´s favorite bird, the Atlantic puffin, before heading out. We searched for a long time before spotting a very elusive pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins! These dolphins wanted to be left alone so we respected that and as we turned away, there was a blow on the horizon! This was a humpback whale going for a dive! We saw this individual a few times and then a minke whale popped up as well! As this was not enough, we saw two more blows in the distance. As we went over, two humpback whales were together with 10 to 15 dolphins! To see two species together and interacting was amazing to see, the whales were trumpeting and rolling, the dolphins were jumping and then even the sun came out! It truly does not get better than this. 

Crew: Captain Reynar & Guide Janiek, Captain Megan & Guide Milan

12:00 - Fantastic day to be heading out in to the bay. Not too much wind, no rain and a few distant cracks of blue sky. Visibility was magnificent with fantastic views of Snaefellsjokull (which was bathed in sunshine, unlike us). We decided to head straight out leaving the Atlantic puffins for the way home. A few miles out we were surprised to see a humpback whale quite close by! We stopped to watch as it dived frequently with erratic movements. Soon we decided to head further out as there had been reports of more humpback whales. We spotted some dolphin fins and spent some time with a pod of white beaked dolphins, maybe ten or more individuals, all around the boat. Fabulous! We could see more blows to the north so as we headed towards one blow, we sighted two blows even closer. So we went to check out these two individuals, one of which was a significant size. We had incredible views of them slowly breathing at the surface and then beautiful flukes as they went for dives, with beautiful mountain scenery in the background. What a great place to be. We had to save enough time for the mighty puffins so started heading back, only to spot another humpback on the way back in. We watched it dive and then pressed on to Engey where we had an amazing views of the puffins and their burrows. Then a quick tour past Solfar and home for tea and medals. 

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Rachel

14:00 - The skies had gone quite cloudy before we left but luckily the wind and sea were nice and calm still. We first stopped by the puffins on Engey and not much further after that we found our first humpback whale! This was an individual we quickly recognized as Ekki! They travelled into the direction of the islands for a bit but then decided to turn around again and go further out into the bay. After some time we left him to this journey and continued our own. We Then found a pair of humpbacks swimming side by side and got treated to a lungefeed by one of them! Further out we also saw 3 separate pods of dolphins, made up of 2, 4 and 8 individuals respectively. The last pod even had 2 playful calves among them! This made a perfect ender for our tour and so we went onwards, back to Reykjavík.

Crew:  Captain Reynar & Guide Janiek, Captain Megan & Guide Milan

16:00 - As we headed out in to the bay the rain was falling hard but we stopped to see the Atlantic puffins on Eldey. They never fail to disappoint! As we headed out in to the bay we opted to head for some blue sky to try and escape the rain. The sea was a little choppy but as we got further out conditions began to improve, the rain stopped and we could see a rainbow behind us! We drove quite far out but were unable to find anything so decided to circle north. After a while we spotted some blows and birds and headed towards two humpback whales travelling together and feeding, with plenty of birds picking up any leftover sand eels and giving us a good idea of where the whales were. We watched these two individuals for quite a while. One was a significant size and began making loud trumpeting blows. The other was often rolling and giving us views of its pectoral fin and the side of its tail. It was super impressive watching their flukes go down as they dived and the sea and scenery spectacular too. Soon enough we had to head back but found another individual on the way back so went to check it out. We watched it dive a couple of times before we had to head home. Another fabulous tour. What a day. 

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Rachel

20:00 - What a fabulous evening. We stopped at Engey on the way out to see the small but mighty Atlantic puffins. With a good breeze we had plenty of birds flying around and a high tide so we could get super close to the island. Soon we headed out in to the bay. It was raining and the rain was stinging our eyeballs so we tried to head towards the sun. It took a while driving but eventually we made it to a drier area and as we did we turned north and started seeing blows! As we approached and got closer we were treated to a real surprise as the sea glittered with sand eels jumping from the water desperate to escape the mouths of two humpback whales. Then followed a ring of bubbles appearing from which came two humpback whales with open mouths which came up lunge feeding from below. Spectacular! We had spotted other blows in the distance and had at least another two solitary humpbacks in the near vicinity. We also spotted some blows in the distance and felt there were maybe six individuals in the area. The pair we were watching were repeatedly lunge feeding and diving regularly giving amazing views of their tail flukes. We stayed in this area enjoying the incredible light and spectacular scenery in the background as these humpback whales carried on feeding. After an amazing tour it was soon time to return to the harbour. We got a little bit wet on the way back too with a wind hoofing out of Hvalfjordur but everyone came back very happy indeed. 

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Matteo, Captain Reynar & Guide Rachel