Species seen today: Humpback whales, Minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, harbour porpoises

10:00 - We sailed into the bay in this wonderful sunny morning to find 4-6 minke whales spread out around Faxafloi. We got a few looks at the minke whales, but they were rather fast and elusive so soon we set out on a quest to find something else. We arrived to an area where a humpback whale had been sighted, and soon enough we saw its blow. The humpback was in a very relaxed mood and did not come to breathe at the surface very often, but when he did we had a beautiful view of their gigantic body. 

Crew: Captain Daniel & Guide Miquel; Captain Gunni & Guide Eline

12:00 - The day promised to be rainy, but our hearts were warmed by the cute puffins on Akurey. After that, we set course to the middle of the bay! After about 20 minutes we had our first sighting of the tour, 2 minke whales feeding together and going really slow for us to check them out. They were in the vicinity of a flock of birds, which was what caught our attention! Not too far from us, another 3 minkes were feeding too, and one of them was doing lunges to catch the prey by surprise! In the middle of that feeding frenzy, a small pod of 3 to 4 harbour porpoises just popped up and went away in the next second. It kept on raining during the tour but everyone was happy for seeing the wildlife in action!

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide Pedro

14:00 - The sea was so flat this afternoon. It was a pleasure to drive in the bay and easy to spot the minke whales. After stopping on Engey to see the Atlantic puffin we went out. We probably saw 6 or 7 different minke whales during the tour, sometimes non far from flocks of birds so probably feeding. We also crossed two pods of 3-4 harbour porpoises. We tried to see them from closer but those elusive little rascals quickly disappeared. We continued further west and spotted a pod of 6-7 white-beaked dolphins with a lot of energy. They were jumping and swimming on the side very close to each other (maybe mating), swimming under our boat. One dolphin even started tail slapping the surface of the water. It was a great sighting. We continued a bit more in the south and spotted more minkes and went back to the harbour.

Crew: Captain Daniel & Guide Miquel

16:00 - El plan was to go to the puffin island but the captain had other ideas in mind, so we went straight to the middle of Faxaflói to search for cetaceans! We stormed through the flat sea with no rain this time, when we saw a pod of 3 to 4 harbour porpoises popping up and disappearing in the next second. It was just a glimpse but everyone wanted more! A splash and another splash, we were wondering what that was about, it was a pod of 10 white-beaked dolphins jumping and playing with us, they were at touching distance from us, and we could cross sight with them! Amazing sighting, everybody happy and so we went in search of more! Another 5 minutes into the search and 4 minke whales were among a flock of birds feeding and milling around them. Also, another 2 white-beaked dolphins joined the party, they were swimming around the boat waiting for us to go fast so they could bow ride, and so they did! We went back to the previous pod of dolphins that we found earlier because they were hiding a humpback whale!! It's been common to see these two species together. We could see the humpback going under the boat and then popping up on the other side! After a few fluke dives it was time to say goodbye to this gentle giant. On the way back we stopped by Akurey to have a look at the puffins and see them bringing food for their offspring! What a tour!!

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Pedro

20:00 - The midnight sun was stunning as ever, and we had a beautiful light over the very calm bay tonight. We could see animals everywhere: some fast harbour porpoises, seabirds flying over 5 or 6 feeding minke whales, 10 playful white-beaked dolphins, and a calm humpback whale. We even recognised one of the minke whales as Spider, an individual we have been seeing in the bay since 2010. The minke whales were lungefeeding, and they were coming up all around us. The dolphins were very curious and swam right under us, sometimes almost splashing us when they came up right next to the boat. With these wonderful sightings in mind we sailed back to Reykjavík, with in the background the sun intensifying the orange night sky. 

Crew: Captain Daniel & Guide Pedro; Captain Megan & Guide Eline

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