Whale Diary

10:00 - This morning, we headed out into a sunny but rather choppy Faxaflói Bay in search of cetaceans. On the way out, we made a brief stop by one of our nearby puffin islands, Akurey, where we observed large numbers of puffins both on the water and on land. Afterwards, we continued South to try our luck - and it paid off! Suddenly, we began spotting hundreds of seabirds, indicating a very active feeding area. Soon after, a blow appeared on the surface in the distance - it was a humpback whale! This individual was clearly part of the feeding frenzy below, diving for food and surfacing very close to our boat. Some of its dives were deeper, and it treated us to a beautiful view of its fluke. After spending some time with this whale, we decided to leave it to feed alone and continued on to see what else we might find. We didn’t have to go far before spotting another humpback whale making its way toward the same feeding area. This one also dove close to our boat, allowing us to clearly observe its dorsal fin, blowhole, and even its fluke at one point. What a blessing to witness these incredible animals up close in their natural habitat! As we headed back to the harbour, everyone felt very happy after such a lovely morning of sightings.
 

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Maja

12:00 - Coming out in the sunny but choppy sea today, we knew to head South to go find the sightings from the other boats. After roaming around in a very active zone, with many seabirds flying over and a small pod of 6 harbor porpoises coming very close to our boat, we finally saw our first humpback whale, the first of 3 that we spotted during our tour. These bigger whales were all feeding at the bottom, coming up only shortly to breathe a couple of times before diving down. We still managed to get very close to them before fluke diving multiple times ! Sailing back, we managed to see another 2 pods of harbor porpoises, giving us a last sign of the high activity of the bay in these last days.

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Alexandre

14:00 - As we headed out this sunny afternoon the seas had calmed down a little. We decided to head towards the same location as this morning as there still was a lot of fish activity around that area. We saw birds flocking in the distance, but suddenly on our way there we spotted something breaking the surface very close to us. It was a pod of 6 harbour porpoises that surfaced just next to our boat! We stayed for a short while as they were riding the waves and surfacing very frequently around us. As they moved on, we did as well - in the direction of the flocking seabirds. When we got closer, a blow appeared in the distance. It was a humpback whale that was going for some shallow dives to feed. Everyone got a close look as this individual came up to breathe just next to the boat.  After spending some time here, observing and taking some close up pictures, we decided to head on to see if we could find something more. Along the way, another pod of harbour porpoises surfaced close by, and we spotted another humpback whale not far away! We stayed there for a little while to see this individual come up for some nice breaths. As it was time to head back to the harbour, everyone had big smiles on their faces after all those wonderful sightings. How special it is to come so close to these animals in their natural environment!

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Milan, Captain Miquel & Guide Maja

16:00 - We started out or tour enjoying the sun but with a bit of wind and swell. We headed south searching for adventure and surfing the waves, after about half an hour we spotted our first blow! We spotted our first humpback whale of the trip. While we waited for the whale to resurface we noticed a few more blows in the distance, about 5 whales were probably in the area! After a few minutes we decided to head further away to a different blow! This humpback was a bit more curious and rolled a bit showing us their pectoral fin! As time was running out we decided to start our journey back but not without first stopping by Akurey to see the lovely puffins!

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Maria

20:00 - Our tour started with a beautiful midnight sun! There was a bit of swell and wind which created some splashes on our way, but we started with a quick stop to Akurey to check some puffins out! Then we moved a bit into the bay and just about 20 minutes later we spotted a minke whale! We watched it while it resurfaced twice before it disappeared, we carried on with our trip and just a few minutes after we saw a blow! A humpback whale! It was diving and showing of it's fluke! Eventually we decided to continue our adventure and search a bit more, and we spotted some harbour porpoises! Then we heard the news that there was a second humpback whale so we decided to give it a look! A few more fluke dives and then it was time to go home! It was a bumpy but happy ride for this midnight tour!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Sam, Captain Megan & Guide Maria