Whale Diary

10:00 - Today, Reykjavík woke up to a beautiful sunny day, with a chilly wind coming from the north. Together with our ocean lovers passengers, we were more than ready to explore our amazing bay and search for marine life once again. We headed north, and although the sea was a bit rougher than expected, conditions remained safe for whale watching. After a while, we approached an area where other boats were observing a humpback whale. This individual was traveling north, and as we were parallel to it, we had several fantastic opportunities to watch this gentle giant and take many photographs. After some time, we decided to leave the area to avoid disturbing the whale and continued our journey. On our way back, out of nowhere, we encountered a small pod of six white-beaked dolphins! These energetic animals delighted everyone on board as they surfaced around us. What a fantastic day out on the bay!

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide María H, Captain Emily & Guide Maria Ana

12:00 - The weather was great as we went out to sea. Our first stop was at the puffin colony on the isle of Akurey. These funny little guys never disappoint and so after a few minutes we went further out to find some much larger animals. We had to search quite well and travel far until we finally spotted some splashes on the surface. It was a pod of around 15 white- beaked dolphins that were traveling fast and then started to play in the waves. They got very interested in our boat as well and so we got good opportunities to take great pictures of these playful animals before we returned back to the harbor. 

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Knut

14:00 - We left the harbour ready for a whale watching adventure and fortunately the ocean had calmed down a little. On our way out, a passenger spotted a dorsal fin in the water, so we slowed down and waited. Suddenly, we heard a small blow; it was a minke whale! We spend some time with this animal and then decided to continue. Other boats were observing something so we headed over there. A humpback whale appeared before us! It went for a lovely fluke dive and then out of nowhere it started breaching, chin slapping and pec slapping over and over again! Awesome behavior to see and experience. Eventually we had to start making our way back to the harbour, with a little jump scare on the way. A minke whale surfaced very close to the boat! Then even some white-beaked dolphins showed up and were very curious about the boat. So many species and such nice sightings today, truly a amazing whale watching adventure!

Crew: Captain Megan & Guide María H, Captain Emily & Guide Maria Ana

16:00 - The weather turned to the best as we went out. Almost no wind and overcast conditions. Again we had to go out quite some distance and search around but the effort was worth it. 2 humpback whales, a mother with her 3/4 grown calf, surfaced in the distance and we could get closer to get a good look at them. We spend a few minutes with them until they both went for a very long dive after traveling fast at the surface. On our way back in the direction of Reykjavik we saw the elegant figure of a fast traveling minke whale. Even though it was a traveling quickly we were lucky enough to have him surface just a few meters away from our boat. Due to their shy character the minke whale chose to disappear after a few minutes and we went on. Just to get lucky a third time as splashing on the surface indicated a pod of 15-20 white-beaked dolphins. They found an interest in our boat and got close to check us out for some time before we had to head back to the harbor. After a quick visit to the puffins on Akurey, we returned to Reykjavik after this amazing tour.

Crew: Captain Pedro & Guide Knut

20:00 - On our last tour of the day, we sailed out into Faxaflói Bay once again. Despite a little rain, the sea was very calm, and we hoped to spot more cetaceans at the surface. Before heading into the bay, we made our usual stop at Akurey Island to observe the puffins. Hundreds of Atlantic puffins were gathered near the rocks, while many others rested on the surface of the water. We then sailed north into the bay after receiving information from one of our larger boats about the latest whale sightings. On our way, three harbour porpoises appeared close to us, but we continued sailing as our destination was still quite far away. A little later, out of nowhere, a minke whale surfaced. We stopped to try and get a better look at this individual, but unfortunately, it never resurfaced near our position. We continued our journey, and when we finally arrived at the whale area, we spotted our first blow in the distance, surrounded by large flock of seabirds. One blow... then another... and then a third. Three humpback whales in total! While we were enjoying these magnificent animals feeding in the area, we spotted two more blows farther to the northwest. Eventually, the first three whales joined the other two, giving us an incredible total of five humpback whales in the same area. And to top it all off: a pod of 10 white-beaked dolphins appeared in the same right area. It was clearly a feeding hotspot, as evidenced by the frenzy of seabirds all around us. It felt like a National Geographic moment ,a truly unique experience and one we will never forget. What a privilege! Despite the rain on our journey back to the harbour, everyone returned with big smiles on their faces, already dreaming about this unforgettable midnight tour.

Crew: Captain Eggert & Guide María H