Whale Diary

09:00 - As we headed out into the bay this morning, we had a bit of a breeze and some cloudy skies, but luckily the rain held off for us. It was not too long until we spotted 8 harbor porpoises! These porpoises were circling all around us and we even had a suspected mother calf pair! After a really nice encounter we continued to see who else was in the bay. Not too far from the porpoises we spotted the blows of two humpback whales. As we were admiring our pair, we had a pod of 6 white-beaked dolphins come to check us out! They then swam right to the humpbacks and started interacting with them. We are not to sure that the humpbacks were enjoying the interaction as much as the dolphins, as the humpbacks were starting to trumpet, roll, and wave their tails back and forth. This created for a spectacular encounter as we had flukes, pectoral fins, and even saw the underside of one humpback! The dolphins were also interacting with the boats and the humpbacks and started jumping. After a spectacular viewing it was time to head back to port. As we were on the way back we were stopped by one minke whale. This individual was relaxed and gave us a few very nice surface sequences before it was time for us to set sail back to the harbor. With all of our commonly spotted cetaceans seen, we had a fantastic morning!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Matteo, Captain Kylie & Guide Sam

12:00 - The rain had found us by the afternoon which lead to a true Viking adventure. We bundled up and set sail! Not too far from port we spotted 6 harbor porpoises. Just like in the morning, the porpoises surrounded us and we could hear them take a breath as they surfaced! It is always so special when we can have an extended viewing with them. After this great viewing we continued. Not to far away we spotted one minke whale. This individual surfaced a few times before swimming to waters unknown to us. We then set sail to try and see our humpback pair from this morning. Our vessel split up and searched far and wide for this pair. They seemed to have traveled a farther distance than expected and we were unsure if we would spot them again. We spotted an area with more feeding birds and two more solitary minke whales. As we were admiring these minkes, alas we spotted two blows! We had found our pair of humpback whales! They treated us right away to a fluke dive which was excellent. We could hear them as they surfaced for air and see their pectoral fins through the surface of the water. After multiple surface sequences, it was time to wave our whales goodbye and head back to port. Quite the adventurous afternoon!

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Matteo, Captain Kylie & Guide Sam

15:00 - The final tour of the day started rainy and ended rainy but as we were out we were in the dry with the sky parting and the wind dropping. We sailed out to the last place we saw whales on the previous tour. On our way we though we saw a something in thew distance so we stopped to investigate, immediately we saw some splashes and little dorsals, there were about four harbour porpoises zooming around the boat, a good omen for what was to come. We kept going and arrived in our whale spot, hoping to find the individuals we left behind, as I was explaining what to look for, a blow appeared just in front of us, and then another, we had two humpback whales side by side. They were resting and shallow diving every 2-3 minutes, almost never showing their fluke. Eventually they went for a deeper dive and lifted out their beautiful tail, we saw their patterns, one had a completely back coloration while the other one had a black core and white on the sides. It was simply mesmerizing to be alone with these whales, breathing and diving next to us. After spending quite a bit of time with them we decided to give them their space and venture to other areas. It didn't take long before we were surrounded by wonderful white beaked dolphins! There were probably 6 dolphins around us, adults and juveniles. the older ones stayed a little far while the youngsters came close and swam under the boat, occasionally jumping right next to us! We were thrilled to be in the midst of such an incredible display of curiosity and agility. Alas we had to say goodbye and return home. On our way, of course, we saw our fourth species! A large minke whale passed very close to us, impossible to miss, we waited and it surfaced a few more times before diving. We completed the Faxafloi bingo and rushed home. The rain greeted us again, but our hearts were full and we returned with big smiles and a deeper appreciation for the ocean. A good farewell for my last tour of the season, arrivederci Faxafloi. 

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Matteo