Saturday, 30 September 2017

We sailed out with amazing conditions, the water was smooth as a mirror and there was almost no wind. The views of the fjord were stunning on both tours. We got an amazing surprise this tour, when we came close to Grenivik it was like we became part of a whale party. There were literally humpback whales everywhere, we saw around 20 animals! They were moving in groups and pairs and were very busy feeding, changing direction a lot and diving much. There were also three Minke whales in the area. We never had to wait for whales to come back up, because the moment animals went down other animals came up. It was an incredible day in Eyjafjordur!

Text Anouk de Plaa and pictures Anouk de Plaa and Manu Bassoi

Friday, 29 September 2017

Humpback whales spotted on today's tours out of Akureyri!

Thursday, 28 September 2017

Dry is an adjective that was forsaken today, as the sky decided to drench us all around the day! While making the tours a bit less comfortable, the rain did not harm at all our prospects of whale watching! We got to meet two individuals of humpback whales at the same spot than yesterday! We found Harley Dafinson, that recently had his/her new entry in our catalogue, and King Louis, that we know from last year. Haarley was the most energetic one, displaying a fantastic tail lob on several occasions! So in the end, despite the weather we had a great time, and the overalls we have on board obviously played a big part in that. Let it be known that Eyjafjordur's wonders are still breathtaking in rainy conditions!

Pictures by Anna Gunnarsdòttir, text by Guillaume Calcagni 

Wednesday, 27 September 2017

Sadly, our morning tours were cancelled today due to adverse weather. However, our afternoon tour went out and proved to be a nice trip. Not so far away from Akureyri, we spotted our known humpback whale called "King Louis". The whale was swimming nicely and showing the fluke several times, and all eyes and cameras onboard Holmasol were prepared for these moments.  Afterwards, we encountered our second humpback, actually a new whale for us which we named as "'Harley Dafinson". This humpback gave us a private show with some nice tail lobbing. At the end of the tour, the whales joined to each other, and our last view was the two humpbacks swimming together. Despite the morning weather, our afternoon tour was delightful. 

Text by Manu Bassoi and pictures by Manu Bassoi and Guillaume Calcagni.

Tuesday, 26 September 2017

We sailed out with great conditions, the water was calm and the wind was almost warm. We had to make quite a trip to find the whales but with the wonderful views of the Eyjafjordur that was no problem. We found the humpback whales near Hrisey, the island inside of the fjord. During both tours we spotted at least 10 animals, a group of 4 animals, a group of 3 animals and 3 animals moving by themselves. The whales were all around us popping up very close to the boat and swimming under the boat. We were literally surrounded by humpback whales, it was amazing. During the first tour we were even treated to some tail lobbing behaviour of two different whales. When a humpback whale tail lobs, it throws the back part of its body out of the water which creates a huge splash and a big noise. A number of the individuals we encountered were familiar, we recognized Jackson, Millenium Falcon, Adam, Max and Tattoo. It was a wonderful day with lots of whales.

Text Anouk de Plaa and pictures Babsi Neubarth

Monday, 25 September 2017

The golden autumn continues here in Eyjafjördur with sunshine, not too much wind and many humpback whales. We went out on two tours till the lower end of Hrisey and encountered nine whales in the morning and six whales in the afternoon. Both times we had super nice encounters with a group of five whales who came really, really close and were simply impressive and graceful while going for a deep dive. Very interestingly for us, the humpback whales called bear could be found on both tours in a group of five, but each time with different individuals. We also reached a milestone in our research today! We sighted the 100th humpback whale of the season which marked the 200th overall at the same time! So far this individual does not have a name yet. Hence we are looking for suggestions. Please let us know if you have a good idea for a special name, for this very special whale.

Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth

Sunday, 24 September 2017

All tours CANCELLED today!

Saturday, 23 September 2017

Absolutely no words for the tour today. After thirty minutes sailing from Akureyri, we had our first sight, a humpback whale. This whale is our known buddy called "Fjall". Just at the same area, a minke whale showed off.  However, the best moment ever was after these two sightings. As we were sailing north towards the area where we have seen two more humpback whales, suddenly came our best moment: a marvellous group of orcas! Majestic and magnificent animals! There were two big males and also young and very young animals. We believed that this pod was about ten to twelve orcas. But not just to see them was enough, we could testify the orcas hunting harbour porpoises. There were jumps, tail lobbing, underwater activity, and further, we could point out a piece of flesh in an orca's mouth and some blood in the water. Today has been filled with a lot of excitement with this unique encounter with orcas in Eyjafjördur. 

Text and pictures by Manu Bassoi.

Friday, 22 September 2017

We sailed out with an icy wind, so everyone was happy with our overalls, and throughout the day we experienced long swells. We did however get a bit of sun and the views of the fjord were stunning.
Around Hjalteri, the old herring factory, we encountered our first humpback whale. It was Fjall, an animal that we have encountered often last summer and also this summer. We heard that further out in the fjord there were many whales and we decided to make the trip. We encountered a group of 5 humpback whales together and many different individuals moving by themselves.
During the second trip we spotted a minke whale. This is a smaller type of baleen whale that we do not encounter often in the fjord so it is always a nice treat.
In the afternoon a lot of the humpback whales were moving in pairs and we were literally surrounded by whales. Often we did not know which whale to look at because there were so many of them.
During the day we spotted 14 different humpback whales of which we knew 13. We recognized Fjall, Max, Gemini, Bae, Gills, Tattoo, King Louis, Lopapesa, Arnar, Cascade, Jackson, Syri and Atos. An amazing day with a big number of whales. 

Text Anouk de Plaa and pictures Guillaume Calcagni

Thursday, 21 September 2017

We sailed out with amazing conditions, the sun was shining and there was almost no wind so the water was smooth as a mirror. Near Hjalteri we encountered our first whale, it was a Minke whale. We do not encounter this type of whale very often in the fjord so it always a nice surprise. Minke whales can be shy, but this whale was very relaxed, surfacing many times before going for a dive and approaching the boat. We sailed out further toward Grimsey where we encountered a bit of a whale party, there was a group of seven humpback whales together. A number of the individuals we recognized, Fjall, Tattoo, Adam and Millenium Falcon. During our second tour the group had split up into a group of 3 and 4 whales and we spotted more individuals in the distance. The group of 4 surfaced several times right next to the boat and they dived down synchronized which was an incredible sight! During all tours there were at least 10 whales in the area.

Text Anouk de Plaa and pictures Babsi Neubarth

Wednesday, 20 September 2017

High five for this day in Eyjafjördur! Five humpback whales made a rainy and chilly day bright and shiny. We went out and saw King Louis, Lopapesa, Blowromir, Millenium Falcon and Depill. They were alone and in pairs and came really close and moved South close to Akureyri. We are hoping that tomorrow they will stay as close and guarantee us as nice encounters. In the afternoon on the Ribs, the lucky passengers saw a whale breaching on 20 meters away. Simply an unforgettable experience that just leaves you happy and smiling.

Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth

Tuesday, 19 September 2017

The rain was our guest today in the morning, but so was the quiet sea. After twenty minutes sailing, we encountered our first humpback whale "King Louis", and just in the vicinities one group of three whales and other two humpbacks swimming northern, but not far away. The weather conditions improved as the rain stopped and we finished our morning tour with astonishing views of the fjord. On the second trip, we encountered the same six whales from the previous tour: “King Louis”, “Blowromir”, “Millennium Falcon”, "Fjall", "Depill", and the new whale that we just named as "Lopapeysa"! A genuinely enjoyable day out full of whales.

Text and pictures by Manu Bassoi.

Monday, 18 September 2017.

Sailing out in Eyjafjordur today was very good with warm south winds again and almost flat seas. Just southern Hjalteri we encountered a group of three humpback whales. So we were able to travel between the whales, and three of the individuals we identified as the same animals from the previous day: “King Loui”, “Blowromir”, and “Millennium Falcon”. There were also two other whales swimming in the vicinities, "Fjall" and "Depill". On the second tour, the weather conditions were very similar, and also the whales. However, now we had a group of four animals swimming together. What an enjoyable day in our astounding Eyjafjordur and its whales.

Text and pictures by Manu Bassoi.

Sunday, 17 September 2017

Excellent day in Eyjafjördur today: light southeast winds, practically flat seas and higher air temperatures.  There were five humpback whales on our morning and afternoon tours. In the morning, we were surprised with a group of four whales that suddenly appeared in front of us while we were spotting a blow further north. The whales were swimming and diving just around us for many times, and we could get beautiful pictures from the flukes. Therefore, from the flukes, we could recognise four humpbacks from the five animals, they were: “Fjall”, “King Loui”, “Blowromir”, and “Millennium Falcon”. Besides, one whale is a new sight for Eyjafjördur. After a time the humpbacks divided into two groups of one, and one group of two animals; plus the humpback that was distant. In the afternoon the whales were still in the same area in 4 different groups as at the end of the last tour. There was a moment that while we were stopped waiting for the whales, two animals just showed at the front, and the passengers could see the long pectoral flippers of the whales and hear their powerful blows. Clearly a marvellous day in the Eyjafjördur. 

Text by Manu Bassoi and pictures by Manu Bassoi and Guillaume Calcagni.

Saturday, 16 September 2017

Rain and wind made today’s tours a wet, but fun experience. The wind was coming from the south-east so the temperatures were considerably mild for this time of the year. Again the Eyjafjördur humpback whales Fjall and King Louis made sure we had successful tour without having to sail very far out in the fjord. Especially if the weather is a bit rough like today we do appreciate the shelter from the mountains and Hjalteryi even more. Fjall was quite stationary today and allowed us to come very close so that it was definitely worth it to stay outside in the rain and wait for the cetaceans to resurface. May tomorrow be full of whales again and hopefully a bit drier than today.

Text by Babsi Neubarth and pictures by Guillaume Calcagni and Manu Bassoi

Friday, 15 September 2017

We sailed out in cloudy but mild conditions. The frosty wind from the previous days had left and we now had an almost warm wind. So there was not much need for our overalls today. After a 30 minute sail, we encountered our first humpback whale. It was King Louis, an animal that we saw the first time in 2016 and that has been around for the last few days. King Louis showed us its beautiful flukes several times. In the distance we spotted another individual, it was Fjall a humpback whale that has been in the fjord for the entire summer season. Both Fjall and King Louis were very calm and stayed at the surface for a long time, they even approached the boat several times giving us great close up looks.

Text Anouk de Plaa and pictures Babsi Neubarth

Wednesday, 13 September 2017

We sailed out with a strong icy wind, but luckily the sun decided to come out today to warm us up a little bit during the tours. In the morning we had to sail out all the way to Grenivik to spot our first humpback whale. It was a new individual that we have encountered regularly the last few days. The animal seemed to be travelling, moving far under the water and surfacing short periods of time. Luckily we were able to follow the whale well, so we managed to get good views of its beautiful flukes. On our way back we got a bit of a surprise when we encountered a humpback whale named King Louis. This animal was last seen in 2016, so it is great to see it again in good health. In the second tour we were able to observe King Louis very well because it came up several times next to the boat. On the rib boat tour people got a great surprise when King Louis started tail lobbing, throwing its back body out of the water and causing big splashes. 

Text Anouk de Plaa and pictures Guillaume Calcagni

Thursday, 14 September 2017

Humpbacks on today's tours!

Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Today has been phenomenal! On all of our tour we got a glorious sun shine, blue sky, and a mirror sea! Temperatures were not high, but it doesn't matter when you got this gorgeous fjord as your background. Our friends the humpback whales were a little bit far away, off Grenivik, but in addition of them we could also sight a surprisingly friendly minke whales, and a lot of harbour porpoises! Sightings under the sunshine always have something magical. Today we saw Fjall and King Louis as resights among our humpback, plus Dépill which is a recent addition to our catalogue. Let's hope tomorrow hold the same conditions!

Text and pictures by Guillaume Calcagni

Monday, 11 September 2017

We sailed out with cloudy and very windy conditions. There was a frosty bite to the wind because during the night it had actually been snowing. So in the fjord we could see the snowy caps on the mountains again. During the morning tour the sun starting coming through giving us amazing views of the fjord. We had to sail out for quite a distance before we spotted our first whale. It was a new individual that we encountered for the first time a few days ago. The animal seemed to be travelling, it moved big distances under the water during every dive. So it was quite challenging to follow the animal, luckily we did manage to get good views of it. We spotted a second whale, it was Fjall. During the afternoon tour we spotted Donald Hump, Jackson and the new individual.  Donald Hump was very relaxed and allowed us to get some great close up views.

Text Anouk de Plaa and pictures Manu Bassoi