Humpback whales are one of the most iconic marine species, known for their beautiful songs and their graceful movements. Every year, humpback whales embark on a long migration from their feeding grounds in the North Atlantic to their breeding grounds in the Caribbean Sea. This journey covers thousands of miles and involves navigating through treacherous waters, avoiding predators, and dealing with changing weather conditions. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at humpback whale migration in the North Atlantic, including the waters around Iceland.

Humpback Whale Migration in the North Atlantic

The North Atlantic is home to some of the largest populations of humpback whales in the world. These whales spend the summer months feeding in the cold waters of the North Atlantic, building up their fat reserves for the long journey ahead. As the temperatures start to drop and the days get shorter, the humpback whales begin to feel the pull of their breeding grounds in the Caribbean Sea. They start to make their way south, covering thousands of miles in the process.

The journey takes the humpback whales through some of the most challenging waters in the world, including the Gulf of Maine, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and the waters around Iceland. These areas are known for their strong currents, treacherous weather conditions, and diverse marine life.

Humpback Whales Around Iceland

Iceland is a popular destination for humpback whale watching, as the waters around the island are home to large populations of these majestic creatures. The humpback whales that travel through the waters around Iceland are part of a larger population that feeds in the cold waters of the North Atlantic during the summer months.

The humpback whales that pass by Iceland are known for their unique behavior, including breaching, tail slapping, and bubble net feeding. Bubble net feeding is a fascinating behavior that involves a group of whales working together to create a ring of bubbles around a school of fish. The whales then swim up through the bubble net, catching the fish in their mouths.

A humpback breaches in front of a happy crowd on a RIB boat. Click photo for more!

The Importance of Protecting Humpback Whales

Humpback whales are one of the most studied and well-documented marine species in the world. Despite this, they are still under threat from a variety of human activities, including climate change, pollution, and commercial whaling.

Protecting humpback whales and their habitats is crucial for their survival and for the health of the oceans as a whole. Efforts are underway to protect humpback whales and their habitats, including the creation of marine protected areas and the enforcement of regulations on commercial whaling.

Conclusion

Humpback whale migration in the North Atlantic is a truly remarkable event that has captured the imagination of people around the world. The waters around Iceland are an important part of this migration, as they provide a critical feeding ground for humpback whales during the summer months. Protecting humpback whales and their habitats is crucial for their survival and for the health of the oceans as a whole.

More on whale migration here.

10 great family activities in Reykjavik

You may have heard rumours about the vibrant nightlife in Reykjavik, and perhaps you thought to yourself that this is only a place for party people. Well, you would be wrong. Iceland’s capital is a great place for a trip with your loved ones and little ones. We gathered a list of ten great family activities in Reykjavik. We’re certain that after trying out one or more of these, you won’t hear those dreaded words from your child: “I’m bored”.

#1 Puffin watching – Parrot divers? Sea clowns? Little friars?

Now that I have your interest, let me introduce Atlantic puffins to you. If you go on a puffin tour with us (between May and August) you will find the answer to why these animals have all these weird names in different languages. They might be smaller than what you expected – also they are not penguins! But what they lack in size, they make up with their amazing flying and diving abilities. That combined with their delightful character will not leave you or your child unmoved. We are fortunate enough to have the ability to see these amazing birds just outside of the Old Harbour!

Two puffins debate the weather close to Reykjavik

#2 Horseback riding – “They are horses, not ponies!”

Very few things are as magical for a child as travelling on a fuzzy fur animal that is big as a giant in their eyes. Well, maybe not the Icelandic horses since they are rather small for horses (they are still not ponies). Speaking of the oddities of these horses, did you know that other breeds have 3 gaits while the Icelandic horses have 5? Horseback riding will certainly be a family activity that everyone can enjoy together. As you ride through breathtaking nature you get to experience a fraction of how the people in the olden times lived on this island. We recommend Íshestar, which is the industry leader in animal welfare and animal treatment. And don’t forget it’s possible to combine horseback riding with whale watching or northern lights hunting!

Riding through Icelandic lava fields on a beautiful day

#3 Whale watching – Nurture the love for nature with an authentic wildlife encounter

One of my favourite moments as a whale watching guide was when a little girl dropped her jaw upon seeing a humpback whale just next to the boat and shouted: “This is the best day of my life!” Seeing the giants of the deep with your own eyes can indeed be a life-changing experience for the young and the old. So why not venture on a marine adventure with your family and have a good old fashioned “who spots the whale first” competition on one of our large family friendly boats? It’ll be one of the most memorable family activities in Reykjavik.

Whale watching is a memorable experience for a traveler of any age

#4 Whales of Iceland museum – A different perspective on these magnificent creatures

To consolidate the family’s knowledge about our marine mammal friends, go to the Whales of Iceland Museum. You’ll see life-sized whales and dolphin models and learn more about them with excellent audio guides and a guided tour as well. There is also a children’s playground on site where they can draw colouring books, take a whale quiz and crawl inside a wooden orca. The museum is also one of our favourite family activities in Reykjavik that are perfect for rainy days!

#5 “Ísbíltúr” – Going on the icecream drive

Ok, so if your native language is not of Germanic origin you might have trouble deciphering what “ísbíltúr” might be. We are talking about icecream here, icecream in a car, icecream in a car while driving around! Indeed, the icecream drive is one of the favourite pastime activities in the country, no matter what season it is. Grab a scoop of your favourite flavour or try “bragðarefur” – soft ice-cream with several toppings of your choice, all blended together. Get back in your car and drive around until your family finishes their tasty treats. Everyone has their own version of this custom, with a different selection of icecream shops and driving routes. You can try the shop called “Ísbúð Vesturbæjar”, or “Valdís” in the Grandi area. Your truly prefers to go to “Huppa” and then drive to the lighthouse of Grótta to watch sunset. Whatever your choice is, you can’t go wrong if the family is having a good time.

#6 Reykjavik Park and Zoo

Considering that the original name of the Reykjavik Park and Zoo is “the family park” it naturally made the list. Maybe you come from a big city and the kids don’t have a lot of opportunities to meet real domestic animals? Now here is your chance to do just that. Rekindle your own wonder through your child’s eyes as they get excited by seeing a cow, sheep, chicken, or even other more exotic animals, such as the mink, seal, Arctic fox and reindeer. Fun fact: the only native land mammal in Iceland is the fox).  The other section of the park is an amusement park for the little ones. They can ride in kiddie cars, trains, boats and carrousels. And do lots of jumping around!

A sleeping Arctic fox with its fluffy tail wrapped around itself

#7 Skating or skiing

Just next to the Reykjavik Park and Zoo is Reykjavik’s main skating rink, Skautahöllin Laugardal. It’s a fun place that’s always icy, even when the outside is not. Believe us, it happens! Our favourite moment is when they dim the lights, put on some disco lighting and turn up the music a bit. That’s a chance for the older ones and the parents to forget time and place and just have fun! No preparation is needed, except maybe putting on some warm clothes. You can rent the skates and helmets on the spot, and there’s supportive equipment for anyone without a sure footing on the ice. If you’re in Reykjavik in winter, there’s a great skiing resort within minutes from downtown Reykjavik. Ski resort Bláfjöll offers several slopes of different difficulties, as well as cross-country skiing tracks. You can also rent anything you might need there. Why not start the day with a walk and breakfast downtown, followed by skiing or snowboarding, and then ending the day melting away in hot jacuzzi?!

#8 Swimming pools – Swim like a dolphin, chill like a seal

With 121 swimming pools in a country of 370,000 inhabitants, we take our swimming pools seriously. Right, maybe not THAT seriously. But seriously enough that we want to access them anywhere in the country, any time of year! And with lots of hot water too! There will usually be several pools with different temperatures and different functions. So you can relax at 37°C while your kids play in the shallow pool for children. One swimming pool that could be of special interest is Laugardalslaug where you can find a massive waterslide! (It’s also just next to the Reykjavik Park and Zoo and the skating rink.) Don’t worry, it is perfectly normal for you as an adult to join them! After all, it is moments like these that remind us that we are all still kids inside. As far as family activities in Reykjavik go, it doesn’t get any better than this.

Laugardalslaug swimming pool has a big waterslide and many different pools

#9 Perlan – Education meets fun

This domed palace-like structure overlooking the city houses a world of knowledge and immersion. Perlan is a great stop to learn about Icelandic geology, history, glaciology, flora and fauna, all through fun and interactive features. I would like to emphasize the artificial ice cave tour that might be a fun little thing to do with the little ones, especially if you start a snow-ball fight in there. Another thing that is worth checking out is the northern lights show in the planetarium that will leave you wanting more. If you weren’t into it before, you’ll probably want to see the lights with your own eyes afterwards!

#10 Feed the ducks at Tjörnin

With 388 bird species in Iceland, it is truly a birdwatchers paradise. Being a birder myself I can think of no better incentive for your child to start loving birds than to take them to the city pond known as Tjörnin (Bus stop #2 is right next to it). Depending on the season, you’ll see different species of birds. Also, in the wintertime this pond is often frozen, and sometimes frozen hard enough to walk or skate on! Some of the regular inhabitants that your little ones will be happy to see and feed are eider ducks, whooper swans, greyleg geese, Eurasian wigeons and common teals. Keep in mind that bread and crackers are not suitable for them. Cracked corn, oats, rice, birdseed, frozen peas, chopped lettuce, or sliced grapes are a much better alternative. If you happen to come in the summer, you can spot the Arctic terns that nest on a tiny inlet in the pond called Þorfinnstjörn.

Written by Lucas Heinrich.

Iceland is an amazing place to go whale watching! Encountering these beautiful gentle giants is an incredibly rewarding experience, one that lets us truly appreciate the wonderful diversity of life that we share our planet with. Against the backdrop of the jagged Icelandic landscape sculpted by millions of years of volcanic activity and glacial movements, it might even be the adventure of a lifetime. Here at Special Tours, we’ve done all the hard work and found the perfect spots to search for whales, dolphins, and porpoises, all within less than an hour’s sailing from Reykjavík – but there are still some things to keep in mind when preparing for your Whale Watching adventure in Iceland. Read on for some tips from the professionals!

Now, the waters around our North Atlantic island nation are very high in nutrients, due in part to deep sea currents that rising up just off the coast. These nutrients support the rich ecosystem that allows whales to thrive – and so every year, countless thousands of whales migrate to our waters to feed on a rich variety of fish species. In particular, the bay of Faxaflói in southwest Iceland benefits by being very exposed to the nutrient-rich North Atlantic Current. Due to this, Special Tours is one of very few whale watching companies in the world that offer whale watching tours year-round – every single day of the year!

Photo by Federico Facchin (Winter Whale Watching from Reykjavík)

Being in the middle in the North Atlantic Ocean, weather in Iceland can vary quite a bit from day to day, let alone season to season. We always provide free warm overalls to all of our Whale Watching passengers, included in the ticket price. These help not only trap heat, but also keep you dry in wet weather, allowing you to stay outside for much longer. But depending on the time of year that you sail with us, you may need to pack different types of clothing to make sure you’ll be extra cozy with us:

• Hat and Gloves: In all seasons, I highly recommend always bringing a hat and gloves with you. In the summer months (May – September), thinner gloves should do the trick, but during the winter you should have something thicker.
• Sturdy shoes: If you’re going sailing in Iceland, then definitely leave your sandals and high heels at home. Shoes with sturdy rubber soles, or thicker boots in the wintertime, will not only keep you warmer but also keep you safer when moving around the boat and going up and down the outside stairs. Don’t forget to pair them with a good pair of wool or wool blend socks!
• Thermal layers: Usually only necessary in winter, thermal underwear is regardless a good thing to throw into your bag all year round, just in case. If you layer it up with a thick sweater (and in winter, a coat on top of that), then combined with our overalls you’ll feel nice and cozy.
• Scarf or neck warmer: This is mainly for winter as well, and easy to forget. But in windy or snowy conditions, we can lose a lot of heat through our necks – so make sure to bundle up tight!
• Sunglasses: Regardless of what some locals might tell you, we do actually get sunshine here in Iceland! Squinting through a sunny day on the water will really make you wish you brought yours on-board. Pro-tip: Always opt for a good pair of polarized sunglasses. This reduces the effects of sun glare on the water surface, and even allows you to see better into the water – meaning it’s easier to pick out the whales, dolphins, or porpoises before they even come up to breathe!

Photo: What to wear and what not to wear on a whale watching tour

No matter what time of year you join us for a whale watching tour, you have a high probability of an encounter with one of the four main species that we see – humpback whales, minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, and harbor porpoises. So never ever forget to bring your camera! Whether yours is built into your smartphone, or a high-end DSLR with a telephoto lens, or somewhere in between, it is easy to get memorable photos on any of our tours. Read our blog, How to Photograph Whales for some more tips about wildlife photography.

With Whale Watching tours all year round, and up to 10 daily departures in summer season, there’s always time to add a wildlife adventure with Special Tours to your Icelandic holiday. For more information, or if you have further questions, then feel free to contact our ticket office at info@specialtours.is or call +354 560 8800

Blog by
Jonathan Rempel
Instagram: @jon.rempel
Head Guide, Special Tours

Winter whale watching in Reykjavik can be an interesting phenomenon. Since the beginning of last December, we’ve had an interesting change in the pattern of our winter whale watching tours and we thought we’d share that with you.

Usually we sail for approximately an hour away from the Reykjavik Old Harbour before we came to a good whale watching spot in the middle of Faxaflói. These days the tours offer a fun little game for the guide: trying to spot a whale before finishing the introduction speech! And they manage to do it more often than not, due to sightings close to the Old Harbour!

We have been seeing the same animal at a distance of a few minutes sailing from the harbour, from the 4th of December and we’re very happy about it! This humpback whale has been exhibiting exciting behaviour like lobtailing, barrel rolling on the surface, flipper slapping and, to the delight of all our passengers, coming ridiculously close to our vessel to investigate us. We are not sure what whales dream about, but we can assure you that we are currently living the whale dream.

Below are a few pictures of this friendly neighbour of ours from the last few winter whale watching tours. More images from January whale watching can be found here. You can click the below images to see more amazing photos and videos on our Instagram page.

Written by Lucas Heinrich.

Our friendly neighbour on a beautiful winter afternoon close to Reykjavik

Our friend flaps its tail!

The friendly whale comes close to the boat

The majestic humpback’s tail pops up from the water

A beautiful creature in beautiful surroundings

Even in the oldest written literature of Iceland, the sagas of Icelanders, dating back to events in the 9th, 10th and 11th century, there are almost no accounts of whaling in Iceland, except for some feuds between families about whale carcasses on the beach. Historically it were foreign countries that starting hunting whales commercially here (Basques, Norway, Danish, Dutch) in the 17th century. In the 18th century, it was mostly Frensh and US Whalers that hunted right whales further North. In 1883, the Icelandic government granted permission for Norway to build whale hunting stations in Iceland. By the early 1900s whale populations were depleted and Norwegian companies moved to the Arctic. Between 1895 and 1905 a total of 10,475 whales had been killed, mostly by Norwegian operators. It seems that Icelanders themselves never participated in the European commercial whaling of the seventeenth to twentieth centuries.

However, In 1948 an Icelandic company, Hvalur h/f, established a whale hunting station in Hvalfjordur (close to Reykjavik) and by 1975 killed on average 250 fin whales, 65 sei whales and 78 sperm whales each year, in addition to some blue and humpback whales. Most of the whale meat processed was exported to the UK, whilst meal was used as domestic animal feed. Until the end of the 20th Century Icelandic operations resulted in approximately 17,000 whales being killed within Icelandic waters. A whaling moratorium came into full effect in the year 1986 (that Iceland never formally accepted). From 1990 to 2003 no whale hunting took place in Icelandic waters. Whaling resumed in Iceland in 2003 after a 13-year hiatus. It was mostly Fin and Minke whales from there on.

Recent years

In Iceland’s last full season in 2018, 146 fin whales and six minke whales were killed. Fin whales are listed as endangered species and not even Norway or Japan hunt them. Fin whale meat products are exclusively exported to Japan as there is no domestic demand. But  because Japan returned to commercial whaling in 2019 after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), even this demand for Icelandic whale meat has decreased dramatically.

Whaling was temporarily paused in Iceland between 2019 and 2021 as coronavirus restrictions, competition from subsidized Japanese whaling, and increasing domestic whale watching tourism have hampered the industry. There were two companies until 2020 when one of them stopped. This was the one hunting minke whales. Hvalur hf remains the only company that continues its whaling practices for the endangered Fin whales and is planning to continue operations in 2022. I saw them going out already. A weird feeling when you are on a whale watching boat and see a whaling boat headed out into the bay. Hvalur is operating outside of the Old Harbour, right here, where our whale watching tours start. Their ships are marked with an „H“ (Hvalur 8 and Hvalur 9).

Curious minke whale

Why Whaling?

Tourists visiting Iceland remain the largest consumers of (Icelandic) minke whale meat. A 2009 Gallup survey for IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) found that 40% of tourists admitted to sampling whale meat: by 2015, this figure had fallen to 18% and by 2017, had dropped still further to 11.4%. Given that over 2.3 million tourists visited Iceland in 2018 and a further 2 million in 2019, it is incredibly important to reach all of you, who come to Iceland, with the message that whale meat is neither traditional nor a popular dish locally. In fact, in a 2018 Gallup poll for IFAW only 2% say that it is a regular on their plates, which means six times or more per year. 84% said they had never eaten it! Domestic demand by tourists is now covered by imports from Norway.

It is an undeniable fact that every whale killed is one fewer to be potentially enjoyed by whale watchers on tours, especially considering that all minke whales killed were previously harpooned close to the whale watching area in Faxaflói Bay. It must also have affected their behavior, as they still seem to be more shy and elusive than other cetacean species around the boats. Of course, we here at Special Tours, as a sustainable whale watching company have confronted the whaling companies and often spoke out publicly against the hunts.

What you can do about it

• Meet us, don´t eat us: Between 2009 and 2017, the number of tourists who said they tried whale meat dropped by 70%. Now less than 10% of the restaurants in Reykjavik offer whale meat, while more than half signed up to be “whale friendly”. Please only visit these ones, if you want to encourage change.
• Sign a petition to end whaling
• Be part of the movement that helps to stop whaling once and for all
• https://www.change.org/p/iceland-hvalur-ehf-stop-whaling-iceland
• https://www.sealegacy.org/pages/iceland-whaling
• https://www.ifaw.is/signup/

Some good news at the end: the Fisheries minister said that whaling no longer seems to be a profitable activity as demand dwindles. Therefore it seems likely that whaling might be stopped in 2024, when current licenses will expire. Hurray!

Are you visiting Iceland and hoping to see some amazing sea mammals: whales, dolphins or porpoises? Then you certainly find yourself visiting the right country, off the coast of Iceland one can find as many as 23 different cetacean species! But some of these are seen more often than others and not all of them are here year-round. You might be wondering, “what’s the best time to see whales in Iceland?” This blog is here to help you find out when to expect which species and where you can find them!  

Different seasons in Reykjavik

In Reykjavik you can go whale watching year-round. In winter the weather is more unstable, so the chances of cancellation due to rough sea are a bit higher than in summer. But in exchange there are not as many people on board, so you will get an extra nice and relaxed atmosphere on board. As to your chances to see whales, not all species are equally abundant in Iceland year-round. Baleen whales are usually migratory, and most of them will leave Icelandic waters, as they go to warmer waters to breed and give birth. Even though most humpback whales and minke whales leave during winter, some stay behind and are still occasionally seen in the bay of Faxafloí. For example in the winter of 2019, January was an extraordinary month, humpback whales were seen on 90% of all tours going out with Special Tours! So even though on average the chances to see humpback whales and minke whales are smaller in winter, there is still a chance of finding them. The toothed whale species commonly found in the bay of Faxafloí, harbor porpoises and white-beaked dolphins, are non-migratory and the chances of spotting them do not depend much on the season.

Different species around Iceland

Above, the four main species in Faxafloí were mentioned, but there have also been sightings of other whale species in the bay of Faxafloí, like killer whales, sei whales, fin whales, northern bottlenose whales, long-finned pilot whales and even a blue whale. These whale species do enter the bay from time to time, but it is extremely uncommon to see them here and one needs to be rather lucky! However in the past week, killer whales were spotted on two different days, that is amazing!

But if you want to see a killer whale, Olafsvík is the place to be. Killer whales are there in winter feeding on herring, although the best time to see them is between March and June. In Olafsvík you can also spot sperm whales in spring and early summer.

The three largest whales on earth: the blue whale, fin whale and sei whale are all baleen whales and therefore your chances to spot them are highest in summer. However, it is very hard to see fin whales and sei whales everywhere around Iceland. For a blue whale your best bet is in Húsavík, but even there you need to be quite lucky. The toothed whales, narwhals and belugas, are rarely spotted around Iceland. The solution to see a beluga, would be to go to a sanctuary in the Westman islands.

Some species we almost never see, for example the beaked whales. Because they are very deep diving whales they do not spend a lot of time on the surface. It makes it basically impossible to see them and that is also why there is so little known about them. Another very rare species is the northern right whale. This species was last seen in 2018 in the bay of Faxafloí, that was unbelievable! The northern right whale was the right whale to hunt and therefore the numbers are so far down that nowadays it is among the most endangered species worldwide. Therefore you have to be incredibly lucky to meet this whale, but apparently it is not impossible to meet one in the Faxafloí bay.

Time of the day

One might wonder if there is a difference between morning, afternoon and evening tours. Well, whales don´t have a day-night rhythm like we humans do and therefore the time does not influence your chances to see them. Instead, it is the weather conditions that are relevant when you go whale watching. Whales are of course not bothered by rain, wind or sun. But for our human eyes, it is much harder to see them from far away when it is rainy or when the waves are high due to strong winds. Sun can be nice, but its reflection on the water could blind you. So arguably, the most perfect conditions are a flat sea and a cloudy sky. On average the weather tends to be slightly better in the mornings than later on the day, but this is very variable and definitely not always the case. The best solution would be to check the forecast, but even then, that is no guarantee since the Icelandic weather forecast seems to be surprisingly inaccurate.

All in all, if you want to see breaching, tail-slapping, pec-slapping, spy-hopping or fluking humpback whales? Or maybe you are coming for jumping, bow-riding and playful white-beaked dolphins? Or do you hope to spot the beautiful arching backs of minke whales? Or maybe you always wanted to see the smallest cetacean of Iceland: the harbor porpoise? Well, if this is the case, Special Tours in Reykjavik is a perfect choice for you. There you can find the harbor porpoises and white-beaked dolphins year-round. Throughout the year there is always a chance of finding humpback whales and minke whales, although your best chances to see these two are from April to September. We hope to see you soon in the old harbor of Reykjavik, where we can take you out onto the bay of Faxafloí to show you some of those incredible ocean mammals!

Blog by Iris

Whale Watching Midnight Sun Tour

The 21st of June marks the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. On this day, the sunset is at midnight and it raises again less than 3 hours later, the longest day of the year. The months around it also have almost 24 hours of daylight: from mid-may to mid-august is virtually never dark! We don´t get to see the famous aurora borealis by this time of the year but we are able to do something much fun: seeing whales on the Whale Watching Midnight Sun Tour!
These tours start on the 15th of June and it goes only to the end of July so you can´t miss this chance! The trip lasts for 2 to 2,5 hours (from 9 to 11 pm) and it’s the best time to see a beautiful twilight if you want to skip a few hours of sleep. And you must be wondering if the whales aren´t sleeping this time of the day too!

In most mammals, the pineal gland is stimulated by brightness levels, so in the dark, it produces melatonin, the hormone that makes us sleepy and tells us the time to go to bed. However, whales are thought to lack the pineal gland or it is even non-functional in several species. In fact, it is known that whales and dolphins do sleep: they need to rest but they can not forget to breathe, which made them evolve a superpower! They will shut down half of the brain time by time in order to be aware of when they need to reoxygenate their bodies. But, as most part of them can´t stay any longer than 30 minutes under the water, they will do it several times during the whole day, and not only during the night. 

Another point that works in our favor, is that humpbacks and minkes, are especially here in Iceland to feed. They are migratory animals that have winter-breeding and summer-feeding grounds, sometimes separated by miles away from each other! Especially in the case of the humpbacks, they will travel to the warmer water for more than 15 thousand kilometers without feeding at all, fasting for over 6 months of the year. So here, they will be constantly looking for food, small fish just like capelin and also krill, and these ones, baby, they never sleep! The whales will be constantly looking for food and this intensive hunting will make them eat (in the case of the humpbacks) up to a ton of food each day in order to gain a big fat layer called blubber, which will be used during reproduction and lactation.

So if you are afraid of going to see whales sleeping during this tour (although I think this would be also very cool!) don´t worry! You gonna join a very chilled tour, usually more private, with the fewer “night owls” that don´t get tired at all or perhaps have too functional pineal glands to sleep well on these bright Icelandic nights! You´re gonna get the most beautiful scenery of the day, with a wonderful sunset light for your pictures, and records on your memory for a lifetime! So if you like to have a different experience or if you are just having some trouble sleeping in this special and unique place in the world you chose for your holidays, we and the whales are going to be waiting for you to have the experience you will never forget! I will see you later!!

– Dominique Gallo

When you’re out at sea on a whale watching tour, the best thing to do is to always be on the lookout for whales and birds – the more eyes we have around the boat, the better our chances of spotting something!  

Of course, it helps to know what you’re looking for. Whales and dolphins are marine mammals, so although they live their whole lives in the sea, they do have to come up for air. When they are at the surface is when we have a chance of seeing them: keep an eye out for the back and dorsal fin cutting through the water. If you’re lucky, you may see a breach – this is when cetaceans throw their whole bodies out of the water, which makes them difficult to miss!  

A humpback whale breaching. Photo from Special Tours. 

But remember, it’s not just the cetaceans themselves you should keep an eye out for. There are other important cues that can help when searching for whales at sea. The first of these is the blow – the puff of air as a whale exhales after coming back to the surface to breathe. This is especially important for larger whales, as their blow may be seen from several kilometers away! 

Seabirds are a particularly important cue for us – especially if they are feeding. Seabirds are often easier to spot as they are mostly airborne, while cetaceans are almost always in the water. This makes cetaceans much harder to spot, as they may either be completely submerged, or obscured by poor weather conditions such as waves and swell. 

Certain interactions between seabirds and cetaceans are well known, both anecdotally and in research carried out by biologists. Cetaceans and seabirds can have a very similar diet, and they are often seen feeding in the same area on the same prey. It is thought that cetaceans make prey easier to catch for seabirds by forcing it closer to the surface, within diving depth, or by herding it into large, dense aggregations. However, it is also possible that feeding seabirds could alert nearby cetaceans to a prey patch, or that they can take advantage of the hunting behaviour of seabirds. 

In this blog post, we will introduce to you some of the species of seabirds you might spot on your whale watching tour, and which cetaceans they might be hanging out with. 

Auks 

This family of birds contains puffins, guillemots, and razorbills. Auks are amazing at swimming, but not so great at flying! They can dive to considerable depths while hunting – common guillemots, for example, have been recorded going as deep as 180m. 

The top three auks in Iceland: common guillemot, Atlantic puffin, and razorbill. Common guillemot and razorbill from Natural England. 

About 60% of all the Atlantic puffins in the world breed in Iceland, so they are very common here in summertime. They make a great subject for photographers, with their brightly coloured beak and legs. 

If you see auks, keep an eye out for: 

• Minke whales (guillemots and puffins) 
• Humpback whales (puffins) 
• Harbour porpoises (all auks) 

Gannets 

Few seabirds are as easy to identify as the gannet. They have a white body, yellowish head, and black wingtips, and are larger than most gulls. However, the most distinctive thing about them by far is how they hunt: by folding their wings and plunging into the water from a height, snatching fish at high speeds.

A gannet searching for its prey. 

Research into the hunting behaviour of gannets off the coast of South Africa found that they seem to spend more searching for dolphins or other gannets than they spend looking for their prey itself. Once one gannet finds a patch of food, others quickly join the feeding frenzy – with so many gannets diving into the water, these feeding aggregations are visible from quite some distance. 

If you see gannets, keep an eye out for: 

• Minke whales 
• White-beaked dolphins 

Gannets are known to feed alongside almost every species of cetacean in the North Atlantic, but interactions are most commonly reported with these two species. 

Shearwaters 

Manx Shearwaters are a very small species of seabird. Their main breeding colony is in Vestmannaeyjar and they can be seen all along the southwest coast of Iceland. There are two other species of shearwater which could be spotted in Iceland: the great shearwater and the sooty shearwater, both of which breed in the southern hemisphere and migrate to the northern hemisphere for the boreal summer. 

A Manx shearwater taking off from the sea surface. Photo from Electronic collection of Georgia birds. 

Manx shearwaters often sit in large groups on the water’s surface – a behaviour called rafting. Some rafts can be as large as several thousand birds! 

If you see shearwaters, keep an eye out for: 

• Minke whales 

Kittiwakes 

Kittiwakes are small gulls – they look similar to other types of gull, such as the herring and common gulls, but can be distinguished by their black legs and feet. They breed in colonies on cliffs which can be heard before they are seen! Kittiwakes are very noisy birds. In fact, they are named after the noise they make: a screech that sounds as if they are saying ‘kittiwake’. 

A kittiwake on the cliff of its breeding colony. Photo from Natural England. 

If you see kittiwakes, keep an eye out for: 

• Minke whales 
• Humpback whales 
• Harbour porpoises 

Other species 

Some other birds to keep an eye out for: northern fulmar, European storm petrel, great skua, and Arctic tern. Storm petrels from The Crossley ID Guide Eastern Birds, Arctic tern from Eric Sonstroem. 

• Fulmars, storm petrels, skuas and Arctic terns have all been observed feeding alongside minke whales – but these interactions are not so common as those mentioned above 
• Arctic terns and skuas can also feed in association with harbour porpoises 

By Eilidh 

Photos by the author unless otherwise credited. 

Aside from our Classic Whale Watching Tour on our boats Andrea and Lilja, you also have the option to book a RIB Express Tour with our rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RIB) Dagmar. Custom-built in the UK for our company in 2017, she is a speedy beauty that can seat up to 12 passengers plus captain and guide, and allows for a wonderful 2-hour roundtrip in our Faxaflói bay. This can be handy if the 3 to 3 ½ hours of our Classic Whale Watching Tour does not fit your schedule. 

Dagmar is equipped with suspension seating, or “shock seats”, for extra safety and comfort while on board. All of the seats are thus extremely comfortable and bounce along with the movement of the boat, cushioning the impact with the waves even at very high speed. These seats have been proven to be the best kind of seating for a RIB, thus making our company’s boat the most comfortable ride out of all the other RIBs starting from the Reykjavík harbour! 

For further comfort and safety, all passengers are given cosy, warm flotation overalls to wear over their clothes, as well as googles and gloves, plus a non-disruptive life vest. That way, comfort is guaranteed on board! Here you can read an article to know how to dress for a whale watching tour. We kindly ask you to show up 30 minutes before your scheduled departure, since staff – usually the captain and the guide who will be on your tour – will help you get settled with all of these items. After you check in with one of the Special Tours offices, you should go to one of the little wooden huts at the west side of the old harbour (on Ægisgarður street) which bears our sister company’s name Reykjavík By Boat. This is where our staff will prepare you for your journey. There is also a restroom here if you want to use it before putting on the overall, which we recommend, as during the cruise there will be no access to a restroom. When all passengers have arrived and are suited and life-vested up, we will walk to the boat together, where everybody can choose their preferred seat. There should be something for everybody – the more adventurous ones may sit in the front, while those who prefer a little bit less movement may sit further towards the back. 

While we are cruising, it is best to stay seated in your chosen seat, but when we stop at sea and the captain or guide tells you that it is safe, it is fine to walk around carefully to get the best view. Feel free to bring your camera, mobile phone and/or GoPro to take photos or videos! They should be absolutely safe on board. 

With Dagmar’s extraordinary speed of up to 32 (~59 km/h) knots, there is more than enough time to pay a visit to one of the puffin islands, Akurey, situated on the way out into the bay. The puffin season in Iceland is from May to late August. Since the boat is also very narrow and streamlined in shape, it can get extremely close to the island, allowing for some bird-watching as the puffins fly in and out of their nesting burrows on the island towards the sea for fish-hunting. Sometimes, the puffins sitting on the sea surface get extremely curious and come really close to our RIB, so that you can admire their colourful beaks in all their beauty! Read this article to learn all about Puffins near Reykjavík.

After a stop at the puffin island, we head out to sea. Dagmar can reach the summer feeding grounds of the whales, dolphins and porpoises in about 20 minutes, but whales have been sighted very close to the harbour before, so it is good to keep an eye out as soon as we get going! Since the guide and the captain will be seated behind the passengers during the cruise, you can always point in the direction where you see something of interest, should our experienced crew have missed it. If you raise one arm in the air during any time of the tour, we will always stop going fast and the guide will come to you to inquire whatever it is you want to ask, or if you have any issues. 

Once a cetacean – whale, dolphin or porpoise – has been spotted anywhere, we will head towards it and go down in speed as we approach the zone where the animal last came to the surface. While still maintaining a respectful and legal distance, there should be plenty of opportunities to get some good views of these fascinating animals. Since Dagmar is so low and close to the water surface, you will be almost at eye level with these animals when they come up for a breath.  

Of course, it depends on the animal how much it wants to show itself. Some of them are just not in the mood for antics and keep minding their own business with the boats around, just showing the tops of their backs as they come up for breath in between longer dives. Sometimes, however, we get extremely lucky and the animal is in a playful and curious mood and it may start showing more of its body by sticking out fins, its tail, or its entire body out of the water with a breach! This is surely the most breath-taking behaviour of cetaceans that humans get to experience. However, it can also be amazing to just watch the animal do its thing, swimming and diving in certain intervals, to learn more about the natural behaviour of each different species, and to simply marvel at its size and beauty. The guide will be around whenever we stop and explain all of the behaviours we get to witness, as well as provide lots of extra information about all of the different species of the bay. 

Dagmar offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the whales in their summer habitat from up close. Some of the whales and dolphins seem to have started to enjoy the attention they receive from our boats, and sometimes come towards us out of their own volition and appear to do some human-watching. They are always gentle and careful whenever they come close to our boats, so you never have to worry about there being any danger. The most magical moments happen whenever we can stop Dagmar’s engine entirely and there is a whale, or possibly several cetaceans, swimming around us, checking us out while we rejoice at getting such good views of them! Sometimes they even come within touching distance, although as this is wildlife, we would be at our best behaviour if we refrained from actually trying to touch them, since you never know how the whales might react. Still, an extra sense that you may not have expected could be part of the experience of whale watching: sometimes, when they exhale close to us, or in the right wind direction, you may smell their fishy breath! Especially minke whales are known to have a bit of a smelly breath, which earned them the nickname stinky minke. 

Of course, there may be tours during which the cetaceans are simply not in the mood to show themselves at all. If a tour is not successful, that is, if there are zero cetacean sightings during the entire 2 hours of the tour despite the best efforts of the crew, you will get the chance to try again, this time on our Classic Whale Watching Tour, which is usually held on Andrea. Just e-mail our office to reschedule for any date after the unsuccessful tour. This possibility to re-try will be available for as long as our company exists, so you will be eligible to go whale watching with us again for free even years after your first tour. That way, you may get to cruise Faxaflói bay two times on two different boats, and you can compare the two experiences for yourself! 

Every morning, the sea conditions are evaluated by our experienced captains, so keep an eye out in your e-mails for possible cancellations on the set day of departure. Since Dagmar is more sensitive to the movement of the sea, it could be that the weather conditions do not allow us to take her out on certain days, while bigger boats may still be able to go out. The wind in Iceland can be rough, even in the height of summer! If the weather still allows for Andrea to go out on the days where the RIB Express Tour is cancelled, you will be offered to re-book your tour for the Classic Whale Watching Tour (and you will get reimbursed for the difference in price). You can also choose to try your luck with Dagmar again on a different day, subject to availability. Just call or e-mail our office and tell us what you prefer. If you absolutely cannot make it again during your stay and your trip keeps being cancelled, you are eligible for a complete refund. 

As if all of this wasn’t great enough, you will also be given a free ticket to go to the Whales of Iceland museum in the harbour after your trip. Located in Fiskislóð 23-25, 15 minutes walking distance from the old harbour where our boat tours start, you will find this museum which displays 23 life-sized models of all of the whale species that have been seen in Icelandic waters. Here, you can experience the true size of these animals out of the water, by standing right next to or underneath these fascinating creatures in ocean-atmospheric light. The museum is open from 10 am – 5 pm and plays a documentary at 11 am and 2:30 pm which lasts 60 minutes. There is also an option for a guided tour in English at 10:30 am and 2pm included in the ticket. If you come at any other time, free audio guides will be handed out to you in a variety of different languages. 

As for the tours on Dagmar, they are offered from April 15th onwards until the end of October each year. During the time of reduced social contact, the tours are offered at 11am and 2pm each of these days. Private tours are available upon request. The tour is only offered for children from 10 years onwards, younger children unfortunately cannot join us on the RIB Express Tour for safety reasons – they are more than welcome on our Classic Whale Watching Tour, though! If you have any more questions about the tour, feel free to reach out to us via phone or e-mail. 

We look forward to having you on board! 

Written by Sophie Kass 

Migration is the regular, repeated movement of an individual or group of individuals between two or more locations. Migration usually occurs over relatively long time scales – periods of weeks or months rather than hours or days. 

Among cetaceans, migration is most well known in baleen whales. Most species migrate between polar and temperate feeding areas in summer and subtropical to tropical breeding and calving areas in winter. These are large-scale, seasonal movements, that most (if not all) of a population undertakes. 

Gray whales are champion migrators, travelling up to 25,000km on their annual round trip from Mexico to Siberia. Image from the International Whaling Commission.

But why bother? These long journeys are very energetically costly, especially for pregnant females or mothers with young calves. In addition to this, while temperate and polar regions – baleen whale feeding grounds – are rich in prey, the tropics are relatively sparse and finding prey there can be difficult. At first glance, migration doesn’t appear to have much benefit to whales. 

There are four main theories that explain why baleen whales make these arduous journeys every year. 

Cold water 

One theory is that whales move away from their feeding grounds before calves are born because these cold waters would pose a risk to the young calves. However, smaller marine mammals than baleen whale calves can endure these seas year-round, so the low temperature may not present much of a risk to the relatively large calf. Perhaps a more pertinent concern would be the rough and dangerous sea conditions in temperate and polar regions over winter.  

Following food 

Although these colder regions are much richer in marine life – and therefore prey – during summer, they are ruled by the seasons. In winter, food becomes more scarce. After taking full advantage of the summer boom near the poles, the warmer, tropical seas have enough to provide for baleen whales during their ‘fasting’ season.

Escaping killers 

Killer whales, despite being cetaceans themselves, are the most significant threat to baleen whale calves. Although this apex predator is found throughout the world, killer whales are less abundant in the tropics than in temperate regions. Therefore, migrating to these relatively safe, warm waters before giving birth to their calves means that baleen whales can keep their young out of the reach of predators when they are at their most vulnerable stage. 

Ancestral heritage 

The fourth and final suggested driver of migration is that it is part of their heritage and culture – baleen whales migrate like this because their ancestors did. In the past, when colder waters were nearer to the equator than they currently are, these migrations would not have been as long. Therefore, the energetic benefit would have been much greater: a season of intensive feeding in very rich, cold water increases the whales’ energy reserves which in turn increases their chances of successful reproduction. Over time, as cold water retreated poleward and ice masses melted, these migrations became gradually longer and longer. 

Although general consensus now is that killer whale predation is probably the most important driver of migratory behaviour, any or all of these factors could be involved. 

Most of the baleen whales that we see around Iceland are migratory, visiting to feast on the rich array of plankton and fish in the waters here over summer. But not all baleen whales make the trip back south – some stay over winter without returning to the breeding grounds. This is evidence that baleen whales do not have to migrate. 

Indeed, some do not migrate at all. Notably, the bowhead whale remains in freezing Arctic waters for the whole year; although they move seasonally between different regions, this species does not undertake long journeys between distinct feeding and breeding grounds, nor do they undergo migratory fasts. At the other extreme, Bryde’s whales live in tropical regions for the whole year and do not migrate to colder feeding grounds. And, despite generally being a migratory species, the population of fin whales in the Mediterranean do not migrate either.

Although the term ‘migration’ is most associated with the great whales and their immense annual journeys, this is just one way in which cetaceans migrate. For example, killer whales in Iceland move between different regions at different times of year. This migration is not associated with distinct breeding and feeding grounds: the killer whales migrate because their prey do. Icelandic herring move between their overwintering grounds and their summer spawning grounds, and the killer whales follow them.

Icelandic herring shoals migrate between their overwintering grounds and their summer spawning sites. Image from Jakobsson and Stefánsson, 1999. 

Not all Icelandic killer whales are herring specialists, and not all of them have seasonal movements that are closely tied to the herring. For example, some killer whales which feed on herring in Iceland during the winter travel to the north of Scotland in summer to hunt seals there. 

Whether they are herring specialists or have a taste for seal, Icelandic killer whales follow their prey. These movements are regular, repeated, and cover long distances and time scales – in other words, a migration!  

So there are many reasons why whales and dolphins migrate, and many different ways in which they do so. From the record-breaking pilgrimage that gray whales make up and down the Pacific coast of America, to the sea ice-dictated movements of beluga whales between open sea and coastal estuaries, to the killer whales which follow their prey on their own migration. Cetaceans, it seems, are ruled by the seasons just like us. And here in Iceland we should be especially grateful for this, as it is the changing of the seasons that brings these wonderful creatures back to our shores, year after year. 

Written by Eilidh