The sky was overcast and wind was blowing from the south when we set sail from Reykjavík´s Old Harbor for the Whale Watching Express. Since we were on our new catamaran Lilja, we could get to the feeding grounds quickly and smoothly. Farther out in Faxaflói Bay, we got word from our sister boat Andrea that some whales were spotted, but when we went to the areas, both times the animals were nowhere to be found. We kept searching until we came across a minke whale, and we followed it awhile as it headed towards the south. It was a bit shy and was always at a bit of a distance, but we saw it many times. It’s always nice to see these huge baleen whales out in their summer feeding grounds! When it eventually disappeared we checked carefully to the south for anything else to see. There weren’t any other cetaceans in that part of the feeding grounds, but we enjoyed the sun coming out on our way back to the Old Harbor.

Tour: ON

Sightings: Minke whales

The sun had retreated back behind the clouds by the time we left the Old Harbor on the Andrea for our afternoon Whale Watching tour. Out in Faxaflói Bay, the wind was picking up from this morning, and whitecaps were starting to form on the sea surface. We headed out towards the feeding grounds and we spotted some dark dorsal fins in front of us – it was a pod of white-beaked dolphins! There were about 4-6 dolphins in this pod, and they were surfacing really nice and slowly. We approached these active toothed whales, and they came up less than 10 meters away from us, letting everyone get nice looks at them – and then they vanished completely. We searched all around us for a while to try and spot them again, but the dolphins had pulled a Houdini. It was very unusual behavior! We eventually left the area to search elsewhere, and unfortunately there wasn´t anything else to be seen in the feeding grounds. We then headed back to the Old Harbor. Our encounter with the dolphins was nice but extremely short, so we decided to offer all our passengers a free return ticket so they can join us again whenever they wish!

Lilja sailed out of Reykjavik Old Harbour in the bay of Faxafloi. The wind was strengthening but the sea remained fairly smooth, offering good visibility. We decided to take our chance and headed southwards, toward Keflavik. It would take a while to get there but we hoped to find a Humpback whale. We enjoyed cruising to Keflavik. When we got close to the shore of Reykjanes, we spotted a giant tail slapping the sea surface. We had found a big Humpback Whale!  The Humpback then breached almost entirely out of the water and repeated this awe-inspiring move several times. Then the Humpback whale turned on its back and kept its immense flippers wavering in the air. The whale also dived many times and we admired its great fluke. Then we headed back to Reykjavik through the drizzle. Humpback whale, excellent!

Tour: ON

Sightings: Humpback whale

The air was cool and the sun was nowhere to be found when we headed out on our last tour of the day on the Andrea. We sailed out from Reykjavík´s Old Harbor as usual and headed towards the feeding grounds in the bay of Faxaflói. The wind was picking up even more throughout the day, so there were now high waves throughout the bay. Fortunately, our captain´s steady hand kept the sailing nice and smooth throughout the tour. After a while of sailing, some large splashes appeared off the left side of the boat – it was a white-beaked dolphin breaching again and again! It was throwing its whole body of the water – not an easy feat for a toothed whale that can weight 350 kilos. We watched it as we slowly approached, and by the time we got closer it had calmed down. There were 3 of these dolphins together, and we followed them for a while before they joined up with a larger group. There were now 10-15 in this pod, and enjoyed them as they came close to the boat several times, letting us get great looks at their beautiful gray and white colorations. Eventually we decided to leave them in hopes of spotting something larger, a baleen whale. We searched carefully to the south of the feeding grounds but there was unfortunately nothing else to be seen. So, we sailed back to the Old Harbor after our nice sightings of toothed whales this evening.

Tour: ON

Sightings: White-beaked dolphin