Reykjavik Whale Watching Diary 8th August 2014

Tour @9 am

We had a wonderful morning whale watching experience from Reykjavík harbour. First of all we spotted white-beaked dolphins in the distance, which were jumping and causing big splashes. As we came closer, the dolphins were still jumping but then decided to start travelling at full speed through the bay. So we followed them at some distance half-way through the bay and it was really nice to see them break through the waves. As they calmed down they started to interact a little with us and came close to the boat to the delight of our guests.

We then saw a HUGE spout in the distance and thought that there needed to be a very big baleen whale breathing. So we went towards the area and waited for 15 minutes, but no whale showed. So there was perhaps a really big baleen whale (humpback, sei, fin or blue whale perhaps) which went for a very deep dive.

Later we saw a minke whale twice before heading back to Reyjavík.

Tour @1 pm

The wind had gone up a notch, so the waves were slightly bigger. We saw jumping dolphins in the distance and as we came closer we got some very good look at those dolphins. They were swimming quite fast but also slowing down at times and joining us close to the boat, so many of our guests applauded as we got to see those friendly animals well.

We went further searching, but it took us quite a while to find something else. We got a call about a very active area and as we joined we saw 3 different minke whales. 2 of the Minke whales even surfaced together, right next to one another. Everyone was delighted to watch those beautiful big whales surface right next to our whale watching boat, the Andrea.

A very nice, but slightly rocky whale watching tour with jumping dolphins and very good minke whale sightings.

Tour @ 5pm

Tonight the whale sightings were quite spectacular and we got to see 3 feeding minke whales amongst a lot of birds. So we found an area with plenty of plunging gannets and 3 different minke whales, which we were lucky to see well. The sea was slightly rough, so we got to see the whales break through the waves and spouting. It is an amazing sight to get to see everybody having dinner together right in front of your eyes. In the same area we spotted 2 white-beaked dolphins.

In the beginning of the whale watching adventure we had already seen 3 white-beaked dolphins which were very busy and quick to disappear, same as one minke whale which we only saw twice.

All in all a windy but very nice evening cruise.