Sun and Whales!

WHALE WATCHING CLASSIC

Click here to download photos taken on today’s tours!

09:00

It’s a great day to be in Reykjavík! We had fantastic weather all day long today, with calm seas below and sunny skies above. We had just barely sailed out from the Old Harbor when we were surprised by a minke whale that popped up close to our boat! It is rare to see whales so close to the city, so we enjoyed the exciting moment for a while until our attention was drawn away by a blow and a fluke emerging from the sea towards the lighthouse Grótta. It was an amazing humpback whale! It came close to our boat many times, giving us great looks at this incredible creature. We then circled around the area where we saw a few more minke whales – also very close to land – and had more wonderful encounters with the humpback whale before heading farther out. In the bay, we spotted several more minke whales, bringing our total to 10 or so! It was an amazing tour with great wildlife, lots of birds, and an incredible backdrop of beautiful mountains and smoke from the erupting volcano.

– Jonathan Rempel
@jon.rempel

Tour Status: ON

Sightings: YES – Humpback whale and minke whales

13:00

Our luck continued this afternoon with great weather and great whales! On our way out to the feeding grounds of Faxaflói Bay, we again saw several minke whales close to the islands near the city, which was a delightful treat for our passengers and crew alike. After enjoying these wonderful baleen whales for some time, we headed farther out and were surprised by a pod of white-beaked dolphins that we saw very well as they swam around our boat! One of the dolphins was a young calf, and it was so cute to see it surfacing right next to its mother again and again. After moving on, we suddenly smelled a foul stench in the air – after looking at one another wondering who to blame, a pair of minke whales surfaced right next to our boat! They certainly earned their nickname of “stinky minke” today, as they are well known around Reykjavík for their terrible breath. Then suddenly a blow appeared in the distance close to the town of Akranes, so we went to investigate and it turned out to be a humpback whale! Because of the pattern of surfacings and dives, it was difficult to say whether it was 1 or 2 individuals, but regardless it was a pleasure to see because we could see many dives with the fluke lifted clear out of the water. When the time came to head back to the harbor, we were in good company as a few more minke whales popped up on the way back. What a fantastic day at sea we had today!

– Jonathan Rempel
@jon.rempel

Tour Status: ON

Sightings: YES – Humpback whale, minke whales and white-beaked dolphins

RIB EXPRESS

11:00

During this tour we were blessed with the sightings of three species: a beautiful humpback whale in the feeding process, showing off its fluke when it went down for a deep dive frequently. It seemed to be moving around quite a lot, always surfacing somewhere else. In between, we even caught glimpses of a minke whale, presumably also feeding happily in the beautiful sun today. We went out a bit further to try to spot yet something else and were rewarded with a pod of charming white-beaked dolphins curiously jumping all around us and diving underneath us to check us out. What a beautiful tour!
– Sophie Kass

Tour Status: ON

Sightings: YES – Humpback whales, minke whales and white-beaked dolphins

14:00

The second tour of the day was similarly as promising as the sun shone down on us. And indeed, we managed to get a good look at some minke whales rather soon. Curiously, two of them were travelling together side by side – a mother and calf maybe? They were truly a sight to see, coming up one after the other to breathe. As we continued, we managed to find the humpback whale from this morning once again, still zig-zagging around in its feeding process. The guests of this tour could thus once again admire the beautiful markings on the underside of the fluke, which also clearly indicated to us that this was the same individual as this morning. A great second tour of the day!
– Sophie Kass

Tour Status: ON

Sightings: YES – Humpback whales and minke whales

16:00

The beautiful weather today rewarded us with the opportunity to go out a third time today. The sky had clouded over a bit by this time, and the sea surface resembled a mirror. This made spotting a bunch of minke whales all over the area rather easy. Once we saw two of them together in the same area, perhaps the same pair as we saw this afternoon? They came really close to the boat a few times, even enabling us to glimpse the white markings on their flippers through the water. As we went onwards on our way, it caused quite some stir when a Northern gannet went all kamikaze and smashed into the surface right next to our boat! A glimpse backwards ensured us that it seemed to be doing alright and had come to no harm. But as one of the guests accurately pointed out – if it hadn’t survived, it might have become whale food, and thus at least have served a porpoise (pun intended)! It’s always a delight to share humorous moments with our guests on board!
– Sophie Kass

Tour Status: ON

Sightings: TBD