Whale Diary

10:00 - The day started cloudy and with some rain today, as we departed into the bay for another whale safari. As we carried our visual scan, our captain saw a fin popping through the waves. This was the fin of a minke whale. The whale surfaced a second time, giving the chance for some of our clients to see this large mammal. As we continued our search, we soon spotted a humpback whale, which seemed to be hunting, surfacing for very short moments, before carrying long dives. After a few minutes, we spotted a new humpback whale and headed to its location. When we arrived there, it turned out that it was not just a single humpback in the area, but 3 individuals! All of them were feeding, doing behaviors like lunge-feeding and bubbles, sometimes even surfacing quite close to our boat, before going again for a deep dive, showing us their beautiful tail. These whales were also surrounded by dozens of northern gannets, the largest marine bird in Europe. These were diving from dozens of meters above the ocean, in an incredible plunge-dive spectacle. We then finished our tour by heading to the island of Akurey, where we got to see thousands of puffins, which will soon leave Iceland in the following weeks.

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Ricardo, Captain Miquel & Guide Sam

12:00 - Today we had a bit of choppy seas and grey skies. However, we were all packed with our overalls and we were ready to go! We first stopped by Akurey to watch many puffins flying all around! Then, we headed into the bay, and after 5 min we already spotted our first dorsal fin: a minke whale that went away as fast as it came. Then, we spotted about 2 more minkes before we spotted our first blow! There was a humpback whale that was tail slapping on the surface! Then, it rolled and showed the long pectoral fins. There was also a second humpback right next to it! They went separate ways and we decided to stick with one. All of a sudden, a pod of 15 white-beaked dolphins appeared. On of them was jumping very high, very close to our boat!! They were everywhere, going under us, on our side, on our back, having loads of fun and investigating us. They joined the humpback whale and they were both feeding together. At the same spot and area, many Northern gannets were just plunge diving like crazy, as this was a very productive area! So much life around us, we couldn't be happier!! It was a lovely tour that we will remember for a long time!

Crew: Captain Kylie & Guide Milla

14:00 -  We bundled up and headed out, stopping at Engey to admire our Atlantic puffin colony. We then popped our hoods and goggles on, and headed out into the bay. It was not too long until we came across on humpback whale. This humpback was a determined feeder and gave us a really nice fluke dive. After multiple surface sequences we decided to wave this whale goodbye because we spotted another blow in the distance. Upon further inspection we had come across another solitary humpback whale. There were also at least three solitary minke whales that kept continuously popping up around the boat. This humpback came close to check us out and we could even admire their white pectoral fins. They even breached for us which was great to see their entire body out of the water. We also had constant action for there were Northern gannets also plunge diving continuously ion the area! After some surface sequences and a fabulous fluke dive we waved this whale goodbye and went to see who else was around. On our journey we were stopped by another solitary minke whale. This whale gave us a ´boat inspection´ and kept circling the boat! For a normally elusive species, this was very exciting and we could even see its ´minke mittens´ through the water! After multiple surfaces and being able to track their movements through the water, we counted ourselves lucky. We reluctantly Waved our minke goodbye and headed into port. What a wonderful tour! 

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Ricardo, Captain Miquel & Guide Sam, Captain Emily & Guide Anna

16:00 - On one of the last tours of the day, the sea has calmed down a bit and there was a beautiful sun coming in between the clouds. We started going to one of the islands to see the puffins on Akurey. They were basically here there and everywhere, so many that we were surrounded! Then, we set sail into the bay of Faxafloi, spotting about 3 minke whales on the way. We waited for a few moments for them each time but they were quite tricky to track! But then, we spotted a blow - no, two! Wait... Three! There were 3 humpback whales side by side, very calm. One of them was Davy Jones, a whale that we know very very well! As we were the only ones with them, we could spend a while more, enjoying these whales even close when they came up to the surface again! We could keep on track on them by the white pectoral fins under the surface, almost shining with the contrast. We later went to an area with many Northern gannets, and they were just looking at us while flying above us! Also, about 2 minkes were in this area as well and this time we could take a better look at them. We then started our way back to the harbour, starting to feel the raindrops from rainy Reykjavik on our faces.

Crew: Captain Kylie & Guide Milla

20:00 - What a tour! After a quick stop by Akurey to get a glimpse of the Atlantic puffins, we continued further out into the bay. A minke whale made a brief appearance, and we patiently waited for it to surface again, not knowing we would soon be surrounded by whales. As we ventured on, more signs began to appear. We spotted additional minke whales in the distance, along with the blows of two humpback whales! We watched them fluke dive a few times, and while observing it, even more blows appeared all around us. The backs of minke whales surfaced in every direction, and so did the humpback whales. We estimated around 15 to 20 humpback whales throughout the tour. We eventually found ourselves in the middle of a massive feeding frenzy, with three separate groups of 4–5 humpback whales bubble net feeding together. It was a truly marvelous sight, so close to the boat that we could even feel the spray of their blows on our faces a few times. As we watched the last group of feeding whales, a pod of about five white-beaked dolphins joined in, swimming nearby. By the time we made our way back, everyone was full of excitement after such a spectacular tour. This was definitely a night to remember.

Crew: Captain Emily & Guide Maja