Whale Diary

10:00 - This morning was one of those magnificent mornings in Iceland, were we had warm and sunny weather. The sea was also calm and flat, which is very useful for searching for marine wildlife. It didn´t take long to find our first sighting, a pair of harbour porpoises. We stopped for these small and cute cetaceans, but in their usual shy behaviour, they rapidly dove and disappeared before most passengers got to see them. We then continued to an area where a humpback whale was. This specific individual was David Jones, a famous humpback around here. David was calmly resting close to the water surface, so we didn't spend much time with him, before heading to check a group of 3 or 4 white-beaked dolphins nearby. However, the dolphins were not in the best mood today, as they acted shy and evasive with our presence. So, to not disturb them, we soon left went for 2 other humpbacks, which were only a couple miles away. When we got to them, we were also surrounded by multiple minke whales, likely 10 or more. The area was likely full of fish, as both the minkes and the humpbacks were feeding. Soon enough, a third humpback joined the group, and it turned out to be David Jones, who had finished resting and was ready to join the hunt. After running out of time, we left the whales and started heading back to harbour, still accompanied by great weather.

Crew: Captain Óðinn & Guide Ricardo, Captain Kylie & Guide Milan

12:00 - This morning we had an amazing weather for whale watching. The sun was shunning and the ocean was completely flat. On our way out we spotted for at least 5 harbour porpoises that they were surfacing every now and then in the same area. However, since this species is very elusive we didn't stay for very long. We continued sailing and we stopped the boat once again, but this time for 2 minke whales. We waited for a little bit but it seemed that they didn't want to be seen. We left the minkes alone, and we continued on the direction of a few blows in the distance. This time, it was a group of 4 humpback whales. These whales were very friendly, we were able to spend quite some time with them. We were also very lucky because we saw them bubble net feeding a couple of times right next to the boat. Unfortunately we were running out of time and we had to go back to the port. 

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Guillermo

14:00 - By the afternoon, the skies had filled up with a few clouds, but the weather continued to be great, with calm seas and a comfortable temperature. Similarly to the morning tour, our first sighting happened in the first 15 minutes of the tour and consisted of 2 or 3 harbour porpoises. These porpoises  surfaced a few times close to our boat, being slightly less shy than the usual, and allowing for most of our passengers to see them. Soon after seeing the porpoises, we saw a group of 5 white-beaked dolphins, followed by a second group of 15 dolphins. This second group was more confident than the first one, and approached our boat, giving our passengers a great glimpse of these large, 3-meters long dolphins. Not far from the dolphins, a few minke whales were also surfacing, with their blows being easily heard from our boat. Our fourth and last species came later on during the journey. It was a a total of 6 humpback whales, distributed throughout an area in the bay. Humpbacks are the largest of the 4 species and are always an impressive view to see, every time they surface. Not only were they surfacing and diving close to us, but some of the humpbacks whales started breaching (a.k.a, jumping) and, although, it was a few hundred meters away, many of our passengers were lucky enough to see it happen!

Crew: Captain Óðinn & Guide Ricardo

15:00 - We left the harbour stopping every now and then for the minke whales that we found on our way out, 3 in total. We also found a pair of white beaked dolphins. They were moving from one side to the boat to the other so we could all take a good look at them. We moved forward and we found a group of 3 humpback whales. However, when we got there the humpbacks when down so we went to take a look at another one that was sleeping. It was a very cute whale that was sleeping right next to us, taking shallows breaths in the surface. Unfortunately, the waves of a passing boat woke it up. Then, we went to check the other group of 3 humpbacks that were doing very beautiful fluke dives every time they went down. We were running out of time so we decided to start heading back to port. While we were sailing  back, we saw a breaching humpback in the distance, but by the time we got there it stopped doing it. We waited a few minutes but it looks like it was already tired. We waved the whale goodbye and went back to the port. 

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Guillermo

19:00 - We left the harbour with a drizzle that joined us during the whole tour. However, it was a very successful one. First, we encountered 2 groups of very curious harbour porpoises of around 5 individuals. This species is normally very shy, but these groups they were quite friendly and came very close to us a few times. We continued our way out, and we found a minke whale. This species is not very social but everyone could take a good look at this beautiful animal every time it surfaced. Then, we found our first humpback whale of the tour. This whale was more relaxed and enjoyed its time on the surface so we were able to stay with it for quite some time. However, since we didn't want to bother it for very long, we moved to find something else. We stopped for another humpback and another minke that was also in the area. The minke was a bit shy, but the humpback didn't mind that we were around, so it let us approach with the boat. Unfortunately, we had to go back to the port. But soon after we left the area, we found a baby seal that was very playful and came quite close to the boat several times. After waving goodbye, we continued our way back and we found a pod of 10 white beaked dolphins. They were very playful and bow-rode with us for quite some time, so we could see them from the surface when they were swimming, but also they were jumping right next to us. This, together with the beautiful sunset behind us made a wonderful experience that we will all remember. 

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Guillermo