Whale Diary

10:00 - Another calm day in the bay, perfect flat conditions outside of the bay. We started as usual with our stop to observe our beloved Atlantic puffin. Then we sailed North, and no far away we spotted our first cetacean of the day: a humpback whale...and it was breaching! Our passengers could see the whale  jumping several times! This whale was the same one we saw yesterday, with the hook shaped  dorsal fin. After a while we left the area because other boats were arriving to the area. Later we found a small pod of 3 whited-beaked dolphins but very elusive with our boat, even though we saw them in detail. We continued west trying to find the first whale but surprisingly, we found another different individual, a second humpback whale smaller and calmer. This second individual was just traveling along. And on our way back to land, out of nowhere, just in front of us, a minke whale appeared at the surface. One tour, three species! What a fantastic start to the day!

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Maja, Captain Pedro & Guide María 

14:00 - In the afternoon, we sailed out once again to see what the bay more had to offer. The clouds were starting to disperse a little, giving us glimpses of the blue sky above. As soon as we headed out from the harbour, we got the news that there might be a whale very close by. Sure enough, just by the breeding islands for the Atlantic puffins, was a humpback whale! The individual seemed to be travelling back out into the bay, so we could follow its dive sequences outwards. After some nice fluke dives we decided to leave it be, and sailed onwards. All of a sudden, plenty of seabirds started to appear, and we came across another humpback whale. It seemed to be a very good feeding area, because suddenly bubbles started to appear from underneath the surface - a sign that the whale tried to bubble net feed. Then, we could see the humpback whale tail slapping several times, followed by some rolling on its side. We were all amazed by the greatness of this whale, but soon after decided to leave it be on its own. After, we also came across a pod of 5-6 white beaked dolphins that came very close and even swam under our boat, giving us nice close-up views of their pretty grey and white pattern. What a fantastic afternoon!  

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Maja, Captain Pedro & Guide María 

16:00 - What a magical tour. We sailed out in literally the optimal sea and weather conditions. It was like a mirror. We started at Engey to see the mighty but small Atlantic puffin then off we went offshore to the west and sooner than expected we spotted a pair of fun harbour porpoises and then about 5 minutes later a humpback whale, busy feeding under a small flock of hungry arctic terns ready to swoop down to pick off any left overs. We enjoyed the company of this individual humpback for at least 15 minutes feeding and often showing its beautiful fluke before heading towards a second one a few miles away that another boat told us about.  Already what a tour and we were only an hour into it. We searched an area for other animals but after 20 mins nothing else was seen so before we headed home we stopped at the humpback again and then very close to the harbour a minke whale popped up. Amazing!!

Crew: Captain Anna & Guide Megan

20:00 - We headed out onto a glassy, calm bay with the rays of sunshine streaming down through the clouds. After a brief stop at Akurey to get a nice look at some Atlantic puffins, we continued out into the bay to look for some whales. We soon spotted some large flocks of seabirds very eagerly diving towards the water, a sure sign of lots of fish in the area, food for not just the seabirds, but also whales. All of a sudden, a dark back broke through the surface of the water, a humpback whale! There ended up being two humpbacks a couple hundred meters apart busy feeding on the feast beneath the surface. We even got to see a lunge at the surface along with many beautiful fluke dives! Mesmerized, we got to spend a lovely time with these busy, hungry whales, and continued on once we had out fill. The setting sun had painted the sky pastel orange, and we soon spotted another fluke in the distance. We headed over to get a closer look and were treated to not one, but two breaches from yet another humpback! Shortly after the breaches, we could see a splash from another breaching whale in the far distance, who was probably communicating with our whale! After a while watching this beautiful whale surface and dive in sequences, we began heading towards the harbour. On the way back, we spotted adorable Arctic terns floating on a piece of driftwood! We returned to Reykjavík still in awe after this fantastic day. 

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Sigrún, Captain Pedro & Guide Orsi