Whale Diary

10:00 - The ocean lied flat this morning and the sun was peaking through the sky. After a bit of a search, two curved dorsal fins cut through the surface. It ended up being 2 white beaked dolphins. We had a good look at them but they were hard to follow. We continued in search for something else and found a minke whale. It appeared quite a few times close to the boat which was lovely. We ended the tour by heading back to the dolphins and this time around they started to ride in the waves from the boat. It was really impressive to see their speed right next to us and we got to experience their big size. The sun came through completely and the ocean became even flatter as we headed back. Lovely day out at sea!

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Frida, Captain Gulli & Guide Orsi, Captain Pedro & Guide Maja

14:00 - This afternoon, we headed out onto the calm bay after a quick and wonderful stop at Akurey to get a nice close look at the Atlantic puffins. With the sunlight glistening on the water, we got to see the bay bathed in sunshine, simply pristine summer conditions! We soon spotted a large blow in the distance, and headed over to get a closer look. It was a humpback whale! This gentle giant was very calm and restful at the surface, going for short dives and surfacing frequently for breaths. We were even treated to some lovely fluke dives! After a while, it became more active, and showed off its massive pectoral fins with a great big pec slap on the water! We even got to hear some trumpeting, a vocalization these whales make when exhaling through their blowhole. Satisfied with this sighting, we continued on, and spotted some huge splashes in the distance, caused by yet another humpback whale in the area, which was breaching up to the point we got there. We waited for this active whale to show itself once we got closer, but alas, it must have gotten stage fright, as it completely disappeared from sight. As we were running short on time, we decided to start heading back admiring the mountains on our way to the harbour. What a lovely afternoon!

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Frida, Captain Gulli & Guide Orsi

20:00 - This evening with the pink and yellow sunset we sailed out excited to sea who we would spot on our tour. We started off the evening with one humpback whale! This individual was a very active feeder and gave us some very nice surface sequences as well as some fabulous fluke dives! They were even doing a bit of lunge feeding out of the water! The black-legged kittiwakes were helping us follow this individual as when they surfaced the birds dove like crazy after the fish leftovers. We even got a little spritz of whale breath as they surfaced up wind from us- a full on experience! After a really nice encounter, we set sail to see who else we could spot! As we sailed we were surrounded by Northern gannets flying above us as well as plunge diving in different flocks. We then spotted the blow and back of a second solitary humpback whale. This individual was much larger as we could spot them from a very far distance. We were impressed by just how loud we could hear them as they surfaced to take a breath. We were also treated to some very nice fluke dives. After a few surface sequences it was time to wave our humpback goodbye and head back closer to port. The cetaceans were clearly not through with us because on the way we had one harbor porpoise give us a really nice surface sequences before they were off again. As we continued, we then came across one minke whale! As we waited for this individual to surface a second solitary minke surfaced in the distance! After a few more surface intervals, it was time to stop by and see our Atlantic puffins! There were many puffins both on the water as well as on the island. After admiring our feathered friends, it was time to end our wonderful evening and head back to port. What a great way to end the day!

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Sam