Successful Whale Watching

For the pictures related to this tour click HERE

WHALE WATCHING CLASSIC

09:00

We headed out after five days of having to cancel all our tours because of another storm. The clouds were low and it was snowing a little bit, but the conditions looked good: The sea conditions were a little bit rough, and got a bit rougher as the wind picked up unexpectedly. On our way to the feeding ground, we came across a white-beaked dolphin, whose dorsal fin appeared only very briefly in front of us. Since he did reappear and there was no sign of other members of the pod, we decided to carry on. After some time we spotted a common minke whale, which appeared two times next to the boat before diving again. We waited for it for a little while. Minke whales can move in an erratic way, which makes them difficult to follow once they go underwater because one never knows where they will resurface. We still managed to spot it again several times, fighting to keep our eyes open with the wind and snow. It was the first sighting of a minke whale on our tours this year, which announces that they are back in Iceland!

Tour Status: ON

Sightings: Yes – Minke Whale

13:00

As a minke whale had been spotted on the previous tour, we took the direction to the last seen point, hoping we would see it again. Rain replaced the snow, and the wind had slowed down a little bit, which was nicer. We waited for a long time, staring at the waves, with low clouds surrounding us, and no whale in sight. And just when I became tired of waiting, a whole pod of white-beaked dolphins made an entrance. It was maybe ten individuals in a very playful mood. There was a couple of young ones, who particularly had fun in the waves. All of them were leaping out of the water as they swam, and some of them were also breaching, landing on their back each time. They offered us an amazing show for a long time. Then we decided that it was better to leave them alone, as we had already enjoyed their presence for a long while and we didn’t want to disturb those wild animals too much. We decided to head to a different area to look for bigger whales. After three minutes, a few of us spotted the back of a humpback whale. It took a while before we spotted it again but we still managed to have a glimpse of the back of the whale three times before it dove for a long time. We then headed to the harbor, cold but happy. 

Tour Status: ON

Sightings: YES – Humpback Whale and White-beaked Dolphins