Humpack Whale Breach

15.Apr 2018

09:00

We were ready for the adventures that laid ahead in Faxa bay when we boarded our boat Lilja . The sun was shining through the clouds and the surface was clear as we sailed into the whales feeding grounds. There was increasing amount of bird life all around us, and we saw many Harbour porpoises. There was clearly plenty of food to be found, and after searching just a few minutes we saw a high blow: it was a minke whale, and it was not traveling alone, right behind another one followed. They fed close to each other, shy while they had their breakfast. We decided to head further out to inspect a large flock of birds that we saw far away from us. As we came closer, we saw blows, spraying high up into the air: this was definitely something large. This was a pod of humpback whales, which we slowly approached, and because of this they were calm in our presence. They feed so close to us that we could see into their huge mouths. They closed them on the surface and filtered the water out, leaving inside small crustaceans. It was an amazing sight to see these four large creatures feeding all around the boat. We saw several blows around us. They kept their distance, but this particular pod was at ease, allowing us to witness how they fed. An incredible tour with spectacular sightings, a very Special Tour indeed !

-Daníel Ágúst Agueda

Tour: ON

Sightings: YES – Minke whales, white-beaked dolphins and harbour porpoises

13:00

Lilja sailed out of Reykjavik Old Harbour for a whale watching themed cruise in Faxafloi bay. We headed westward to the feeding grounds, hoping that we would find the Humpback Whales which had been spotted in the morning. As we cruised along we passed by a flock of Kittiwakes sitting on the surface of the ocean. We also saw many Northern Fulmars and Northern Gannets diving for food. Soon one passenger noticed a dark body in the water on our starboard side. We kept looking and managed to see a Minke Whale that was foraging in the area. The Minke Whale remained elusive and only appeared once before taking its leave. We also passed by a pod of Harbour Porpoises, which also disappeared after showing up swiftly. Later we started noticing distinct blows further offshore. As we got closer we found ourselves in the company of several Humpback Whales. Two of them were lunge-feeding together and perfectly in sync. We saw the head of the animals and witnessed the moment when they start filtering the food out of the sea water: tons of water comes pouring out of their mouths through the baleen plates, which hang from the upper jaw. All of a sudden a huge Humpback whale breached, launching itself into the air before coming down crashing on the surface, displacing an enormous amount of water at once. This scene left many of us gasping for breath, as others exclaimed their surprise in delight.The whale breached again! In total we witnessed four magnificent jumps. After a while the time came to return to Reykjavik. We glided toward the city, reminiscing of our encounter with the sea giants.

-Etienne Menétrey

Tour Status: ON

Sightings: YES – Harbour porpoises, Minke whales, Humpback whales