Whale Diary

09:00 - When we headed out this morning, we left the sun in the harbour, but conditions were still quite nice out. Shortly after we sailed out, we found a very scattered pod of perhaps 15 white-beaked dolphins. They were not too interactive, but we had one little calf swimming alongside us for a bit and we saw some neat leaps too! We carried on and spotted a minke whale. We got some glimpses at this one and also found a bunch of harbour porpoises there, too. Harbour porpoises were all around really and we easily spotted over 25 of them. Then, we got news of some humpback whales in the area. We went to have a look and it was amazing! We saw 2 humpback whales socialising. They we rolling, some fluke corners in the air, pecs up, all while swimming close enough to one another to touch. Turned out, one of them we know quite well too! It was Neila. We were surprised to notice, there was even a third humpback whale very close by! We were thrilled. We carried on and came across another pod of 8 white-beaked dolphins. They were also socialising! They came up close and started interacting with the boat with all of them swimming right next to one another. It was so fun to overserve. What a fantastic morning!

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Hannah

10:00 - We headed out onto the calm, flat bay under fluffy white clouds and sunshine, with some storm clouds gathering in the distance. Luckily, the weather and conditions stayed lovely for us throughout the tour. We had to go quite far to arrive in an area with more activity, seabirds flying above. We had our first sighting in this area, a pod of 3-4 harbour porpoises, which came quite close, especially considering their skittish nature. It was a very lucky sighting, a bit challenging to see at time, as their dark brown dorsal fins and backs seemed to blend in perfectly with the ripples on the water. We continued on and spotted some splashes in the distance, as we headed over, the splashes got closer and closer, a curious pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins! As we approached, they seemed quite interested in our boat, as they began bow-riding, diving beneath us, and porpoising next to us! They were soon joined by some more dolphins, as we ended up with 9 of these playful, energetic cetaceans swimming all around us! What an exciting encounter! Once the dolphins were done investigating us, they swam off and we continued on. We soon spotted some large blows ahead, a pair of humpback whales resting at the surface. We recognized one of these whales, it was Niela, a bit of a celebrity in Faxaflói. It was very nice to see these two gentle giants hanging out together, enjoying a lazy morning, logging at the surface and going for some majestic fluke dives. We enjoyed the company of these two sleepy whales until it was time to head back towards Reykjavík. What a lovely tour!

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Orsi

12:00 - We went out into the icy cold again and started searching the area we had spotted humpback whales in earlier. They were not were we left them, so we looked around. We decided to search south because the other direction had heavy rain and we wanted to avoid getting caught in that. In the glare, we spotted a blow that turned out to belong to a minke whale. We observed it for a bit and then carried on our search. By this time, the rain had cleared and the ocean had smoothed out nicely! We travelled north along the outer edge of our usual search area. We were veeeeeeery far from Reykjavik. With our eyes wide open, we found a blow! It was a humpback whale! Cool beans! It was nearby some 8 white-beaked dolphins too! This was likely the same pod we spotted in the morning as we recognised one individual with very distinct rake marks behind its dorsal fin. They dolphins distracted us from the whale for a moment. They came by for a boat inspection and lost interest a moment later. We went to have a look at this humpback whale next. Upon one surfacing, we saw it just at the end of a lunge feed! So cool! Eventually, we ran out of time and had to head back to port. We were very far out, so it took a moment. We did not have time to stop for anything on the way in, but we were stunned to spot another pod of at least 6 white-beaked dolphins leaping our way, another minke whale and soooo many harbour porpoises. What a busy trip!

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Hannah

13:00 - Bundled up in warm layers, we sailed straight out into the bay, eager to find out what whales might be wailing for us. After just a short ride, we came across a humpback whale that travelled forward with its face up. We slowed down and eventually stopped the engines, and what followed was so special. The humpback whale slowly travelled towards us, giving full display of its face full of tubercles. We were all left in awe as the individual very peacefully came to check us out, doing some loud exhales by our side, and even performing a little spin on its side. We could clearly tell the grand size of this species, and were impressed by its large pectoral fins, making the animal resemble a big airplane. The whale spent quite some time by our side, and at one point we were even able to look in its eye, but eventually it decided to fluke dive, so we continued sailing. We cruised around the bay, and came across a scattered pod of 5 harbour porpoises, occasionally popping up by our sides for some breaths. As the porpoises were very fast, we kept sailing, to soon spot a tall exhale in the distance, which turned out to come from another humpback whale. We headed over, and were able to see a couple of fluke dives, before heading back to port. What a magical afternoon!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Maja

15:00 - In the afternoon, we headed out onto the calm bay, with the sun behind a thin veil of clouds. Luckily, the light drizzle had missed us completely, and visibility was great. We headed deep into Faxaflói, and although our first sighting took a while, we spotted a large blow ahead, a gorgeous humpback whale. As we got closer, this whale showed off many fluke dives, but was always back up at the surface rather quickly, surfacing with quite a bit of momentum, most likely feeding near the bottom. After a couple of these quick surfaces, the whale began travelling, going for longer dives and resurfacing much further away, covering quite a bit of distance with each dive. We followed this lovely whale for a good while, before bidding farewell with a final majestic fluke dive. We continued on and went for a big loop looking for other cetaceans around. We came across an area with a lot of seabirds soaring above, even some plunge diving Northern gannets creating splashes around us. We slowed down and stopped in this area, as it was clear there was a lot of food here, not just for the seabirds, but potentially for any other larger marine predators. We soon spotted some tiny dark brown backs, 3 teeny harbour porpoises where swimming around us. One of them came close enough that we could hear its tiny blow nearby, and another started porpoising next to the boat, so we got to see its entire tiny body above the surface! What a special encounter with these shy little creatures! We continued on and soon had our eyes on some large, dark dorsal fins, a pod of 5 white-beaked dolphins ahead. We approached this pod, and got to see them surfacing rather close, swimming in front of us in the light of the sun that had sunk closer to the horizon. We spent the remainder of our time with this lovely pod, before it was time to head back. What a busy day out in the bay!

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Orsi

19:00 - After such a beautiful day with wonderful conditions, we eagerly headed out again in the evening. The blue skies were partly covered in clouds that had very cool shapes and colors, and soon everything would start to be reflected by the orange light of the sunset. Not long after leaving the harbour, some small dorsal fins broke the surface around - it turned out to be a pod of 4 harbour porpoises. We stopped to admire these small but very cute whales, but soon continued our sail as the porpoises also moved on. We searched the surroundings, and soon we entered an area that had more and more seabirds around, promising a good feeding area. That was when we spotted two tall blows ahead! We swiftly headed over to find two humpback whales that were busy feeding together. Over time, the pair split ways, but eventually they would make their way back together again. As we admired the humpback whales, who made loud exhales and performed beautiful fluke dives, another pod of 5 harbour porpoises appeared. These also seemed busy feeding, and came so close to us at one point that we also could hear their exhales, which were much quieter compared to the ones of the humpback whales. As it was time to head back to the harbour, both the ocean and all the mountains around were covered in orange light. The evening felt magical with such close encounters and a beautiful sunset - it cannot get much prettier then this! 

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Maja