18th April 2024

Species seen today: Humpback whale, minke whale, white-beaked dolphin

Birds seen today: Atlantic puffin, great cormorant, northern fulmar, black guillemot, common guillemot, northern gannet, eider duck, razorbill, black legged kittiwake, great black backed gull, black headed gull, 

09:00 - Another glorious morning at sea was waiting for us. The sea conditions were perfect, there were no whitecaps meaning it was super easy to spot anything on the surface. On our way out we saw many birds including a huge amount of Atlantic puffins and common guillemots. Ahead of us we then saw a flock of feeding birds and in the middle a minke whale appeared. As the conditions were so calm it was really easy to follow this whale. This minke came up quite a lot before we continued onwards. After travelling for not too much longer we started to see many blows. These blows belonged to about 5 humpback whales. They were all feeding with many seabirds diving into the water too. One of the whales even lunge fed right in front of us. A few times they came very close to our boats to surprise us with their loud breaths. We got to see many incredible fluke dives from these huge animals. A few splashes then started to appear as well, we had some white beaked dolphins joining the party. There was around 10 individuals including a calf that swam right up to us whilst porpoising through the water. After a great look at this species too we headed home on two very happy boats.

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Rodrigo; Captain Miquel & Guide Rob

12:00 - Everybody was excited after the incredible morning tour, and we left the marina with high hopes. The weather was holding, and we sailed off towards Reykjanes peninsula. In the same area were we found the cetaceans in the morning, we again found many humpback whales. It was beautiful, it was a fairly large group, spread out in the ocean. They were swimming, diving, feeding, and showed their flukes repeatedly. They also went on their sides, rolling, and displaying their pectoral fins. Shortly after, a large group of white beaked dolphins came towards us, and they swam around and under the boat, and jumped out of the water. It was very nice, and everybody loved the action, including the birds that were taking part, like Northern fulmars and puffins. We did not have to move much, as the animals were all around us, and after some time, we drove back. Everybody was happy.

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Rodrigo

15:00 - It was a bit windier than in the previous tours but it was still okay to sail south again. We set off and after 20 minutes we saw a couple of white beaked dolphins but they were very elusive and disappeared quickly. We then got word that a couple of humpback whales were in the area, and after not long we spotted them with the help of the passengers! It was two of them, and they stayed with us for quite some time. One of them was Gustav again! They were really calm and came really up close to the boats. They delighted us with beautiful displays of their pectoral fins, which can be very big, up to a third of the size of the whale. We stayed with them for some time, watching them swim, feed and dive, and eventually we pushed forward, towards another area that seemed promising, as we could see a lot of activity from birds, including Northern fulmars and Puffins. Our bet paid off as soon enough we spotted a minke whale, and shortly after, another humpback whale. This last one was very active, and showed its fins and fluke many times. The fluke was really big, everybody was impressed and we headed back with the evening sunlight on the horizon.

Crew: Captain Miquel & Guide Rob, Captain Leo & Guide Rodrigo

Today we are going out on all of our tours - at 09:00, 12:00 & 15:00!

For more information, come see us at Ægisgarður 5D

email us at info@whalesafari.is or call us on +354 497 0000