We left the the Old Harbour of Reykjavík and we were in a summer mood! Because a beautiful sunny afternoon on the waters of Faxaflói bay awaited us! We started looking around us for signs of life. This could be flying birds, or splashes on the water surface. And eventually we did see just that. Several splashes in the distance caught our attention. When we got closer, it turned out to be white-beaked dolphins! They swam very fast at first, but luckily, they slowed down and we could get a good look at them. They approached us really close and it was beautiful to see these highly social and intelligent animals checking us out! We decided to head a bit further out into the bay to look for something else. We shortly spotted some harbour porpoises in front of us, and they quickly went down for a dive. At one point during our search, we reached an area with a lot of activity. We saw birds flying around us, and also several minke whales. They surfaced on several sides of the boat and they were actively feeding. With these sightings still fresh in our memories, it was time to leave and head back to the harbour.

– Ronald Smit

17:00

For this last tour the sun continued shining with no clouds in the sky and the sea was mirror flat. The activity of birds, which we usually look out for when searching for whales, had majorly decreased but we still saw a few puffins flying around and a small flock of majestic Arctic terns! After a while searching in the feeding grounds we encountered a pod of white-beaked dolphins that where taking an evening stroll, enjoying the beautiful weather. One of the youngsters of the pod, got excited when it saw us  and started jumping out of the water, giving us a lovely show.

– Giulia Bellon

Tour Status: ON
Sightings: White-beaked dolphins

WHALE WATCHING EXPRESS

10:00

The ocean being incredible flat today and sunshine all over the south coast in Iceland, we started off for our first tour. Whilst heading out towards the feeding grounds, plenty of seabird such as puffins and northern fulmars accompanied us, so that we could even see their reflection on the water surface – beautiful. Getting everyone on the same page to spot whales and dolphins applying the 3 B’s of whale watching, we spotted our first species. A pod of white-beaked dolphins appeared on the horizon. Heading closer we could eventually hear them even breathing. An incredible experience on a flawless day as today. Being still on watch we shall get lucky and a second species appeared. A minke whale started surfacing a couple times close to the boat, giving everyone an impression how fast these animals can actually travel. As we turned the boat towards Reykjavík an even more playful pod of dolphins started jumping right in front, leaving everyone speechless and happy behind on board.

– Annika Heimrich

Tour Status: ON
Sightings: White-beaked dolphins and minke whale

14:00

Getting the catamaran Lilja ready to sail, Iceland’s largest bay called Faxafloi was waiting for us. Whilst filling all passengers in on how to spot whales using the 3 B’s including birds, blows and bodies, the first puffins and Arctic terns became visible on the ocean surface. Both bird species stay in Iceland for some time on their migration route. Being on watch the first dorsal fin appeared close to a flock of birds, belonging to a minke whale. As this whale species travels quite fast, we all could get a glimpse of it, as the minke surfaced a couple times before diving down. We continued our ocean adventure on this sunny day and soon after spotted some more black dorsal fins, indicating a pod of white-beaked dolphins. The entire pod seemed to be really relaxed, enjoying the sunshine as much as we did on the boat.

– Annika Heimrich

Tour Status: ON
Sightings: Minke whale and white-beaked dolphins