Saturday, 27 May 2017

You would think you get used to seeing so many humpback whales, but what a crazy day today ! Once again we have seen many regulars, including this group of 3 individuals always traveling together for the past couple of days (Sai, Karo and Manu). Our dear Jackson has been spending the day in duo with Tinkerbell, who knows how long will they stay together? The afternoon tour has been marked by the presence of a relaxed minke whale right at the exit of the harbour! Although it's not rare, a minke whale is not something that you specialy expect on our tour, and even less so close from the departing point! And all of this happened in calm sea and under sun shine, with only cold wind to remind us that we are in subpolar latitudes. Overall we must have seen a dozen of individuals of humbpack whales today, including Fridolin, Winchester, and two individuals we don't know yet. How exciting to meet new faces!

Text and photographs by Guillaume Calcagni

Friday, 26 May 2017

Today Eyjafjordur has provided plenty of humpback whales again! First in the morning we got to see together 3 of our regulars together: Sai, Manu and Jackson. After few minutes with them we witnessed Jackson parting with the group and going on its own. After that we went past Hjalteyri on the opposite shore and met Euclid, this crazy humpback feeding shallow waters (less than 2m deep). In this afternoon we got to see even more individuals! Sai and Manu were still together, and surprisingly close to the harbour with that! They were swimming less than 100m away from the docks in the industrial area of the harbour. Further we found 2 news individuals and Karo and Rogue as well. The latter threw its body out of the water 3 times, displaying massive breaches! It's like a dream that is never ending, this fjord is full of humpback whales, and today we had the pleasure to resight again many of our regulars in addition of plenty of harbour porpoises.

Text and photographs by Guillaume Calcagni

Thursday, 25 May 2017

The day started overcast, but the sea was perfectly flat. We spotted our first humpback whale just after fifteen minutes sailing. We didn't spend so much time with the whale as it was diving for an extended period of time. Therefore we had chosen sailing north for more whales. We searched the location near Hjalteyri for some time, and two humpbacks were then spotted moving slowly. In the afternoon tour, we were lucky as we saw a minke whale very close to a humpback whale. The whales stayed in the same area surfacing sometimes before going down for a few minutes. We stayed motionless and spent some time watching them without moving our boat. After this moment we continued sailing north towards Hjalteyri, and three groups of humpbacks were swimming in the area. There were two groups of two animals and one whale alone, which was resting and spending a long time at the surface without moving. Everyone was happy and smiling as we headed back home. A fabulous day with a minke whale and several humpbacks.

Photographs and text by Manu Bassoi.

Wednesday, 24 May 2017

The sky was dark and overcast, threatening to rain, and the swell started to rise throughout the day. Despite the weather, there were many humpbacks whales in the Eyjafjord. Our first sights of the day were two humpbacks, but they were not together. As we continued scanning the fjord further north, caught sight of three more blows, also in different areas. We spent some time in a whale that was feeding sometimes and turning over on the surface. Quite nice behaviour to look at. In the afternoon was not different as we had one whale alone and two groups of two and three humpbacks northern of Hjateyri. Harbour porpoises were also spotted together with the group of three whales. We estimated that about eight to ten humpbacks have been seen today in Eyjafjord.  Although the cold weather, all the passengers were very happy to see so many whales.

Photographs and text by Manu Bassoi.

Tuesday, 23 May 2017

Once more we were sailing out under very good conditions from Akureyri. The sun was showing itself here and there, the seas were calm and only a little wind. Today we went out on two tours with our RIB boat Solfar and on our big boat Holmasol. Humpback whales a plenty were greeting us on both tours. In the morning we encountered seven and in the afternoon presumably nine individuals. Their behavior varied from feeding in mainly pairs of two to resting in the calm and sheltered waters of Eyjafjördur. Especially watching a humpback whale feeding is always a sight to behold! Our constant companions throughout the tour were big flocks of arctic terns which were looking for leftovers in the water and entertained us with their loud bird sounds. Seeing a humpback whale coming up to feed in a flock of excited birds surely is something special and we truly enjoyed a very fun day out in the fjord.

Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth

Monday, 22 May 2017

The week started a bit chilly than the weekend, but the sea was still very good for sailing and searching for the whales and dolphins.  As soon as we passed Akureyri harbour we could see our first blow, a humpback whale. After this encounter, further north, another solitary humpback was spotted. We continued sailing towards Hjalteyri and two blows appeared on the horizon. 
While we were stopped and waiting for these whales, many harbour porpoises came near to the boat, which was a very exciting moment for all on the boat. During the afternoon tour, we started with a nice encounter with a minke whale. As we sailed northwards, the humpbacks were in the same area close to Hjalteyri surfacing and showing their flukes several times together, really synchronised. At one point one whale just breached high out of the water just in front of us, which was met by enthusiasm from everyone on board. Wonderful moment in the Eyjafjördur before heading back to Akureyri.

Text and pictures by Manu Bassoi.

Sunday, 21 May 2017

This weekend surley is spoiling us with sublime conditions, mirror like sea, almost no wind and a bright blue sky. It just seems like the humpback whales want to add on to that and make a fantastic day just even a little bit better. We went on two tours today and on both tours we had great cetacean encounters. The humpback whales seemed to be really relaxed but also curious at the same time. A bit further out than yesterday, we got to spend time with a group of three whales that came so close to our boat Holmasol that we theoretically speaking almost could touch them. The very clear ocean topped it all by enabeling us to see the whole humpback whale underneath the water surface, its white flippers and the massive tail, a very impressive and stunning experience! We saw one more quite curious humpback in another part of the fjord who even spy hopped to check out the surroundings. What more can we say than how much we are enjoying Eyjafjördur, the weather and the fantastic wildlife at the moment.

Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth

Saturday, 20 May 2017

Wonderful day in Eyjafjördur today: sunny, flat seas, and air temperature reaching 20 degrees celsius in the afternoon. Not a day to be missed, as the whales. There were 5 humpback whales, two groups of 2 and 3 animals, on our morning and afternoon tours. In the morning, on the RIB boat, it took us only 5 minutes to see our first group. The whales were more active and diving deeply for a long time, but we could spot the flukes sometimes. However, the second group was slightly less active, and we could enjoy them resting on the surface and blowing strongly. So nice to hear the blow of a whale. In the afternoon the whales were still in the same area. We were in the big boat, Hólmasól, and there was a moment that two humpbacks swam and surfaced directly next to us at the bow of the boat when we were just stopped waiting for their next appearance. All the passengers were amazed as they could see the long pectoral fins of the whales, a distinct characteristic of this species. Simply an amazing day in the Eyjafjördur. 

Pictures and text by Manu Bassoi.

Friday, 19 May 2017

A weather forecast of bright blue sky, no wind and mild temperatures for the weekend!? Bring it on Eyjafjördur, we are hoping for some magnificent whale watching days and what can we say, at least today has already been one of them. Right now we only have to sail half way to Hjaltery to find our beloved humpback whales. When we were looking out on the morning tour and we saw our first blow, we would have never guessed to find a total of six humpback whales to be surfacing together. They then split up in a group of four and two and we spent some impressive time with both groups and additionally came across a seventh humpback. The afternoon tour was almost as successful with a total of six whales and one harbour seal. Hopefully the weather will stay like this and the humpbacks will stay close to Akureyri so that we can have fabulous tours this weekend. Come and join us on tomorrow or on Sunday, we sure do want to share great cetacean encounters and wonderful adventures out in the fjord.

Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth

THURSDAY, 18 MAY 2017

NO TOURS TODAY

Wednesday, 17 May 2017

A strong northern wind was blowing in our faces and it rained from time to time when we went out in the morning. Due to the unfortunate weather conditions this would be our only tour of the day. Luckily the cetaceans did not seem to be impressed by the roughly winds and so after 25 minutes we spotted our first humpback whale of the day. We watched it surfacing quite close and could stay with it for a while. It is pretty impressive to observe how the humpbacks expertly surf the high swells to breathe. Overall we saw three different Eyjafjördur humpbacks on this tour, one of them was ‘Princess Whaila’ which we have seen now on and off for almost two weeks in the fjord. Despite the rough weather, a nice morning out.

Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth

Tuesday, 16 May 2017

In the morning there was no wind and the sun was a bit shy, but coming sometimes. The sea was flat and beautiful. Just leaving Akureyri and we found our first humpback whale, but as it was diving longer many times we decided to leave and search for other whales. We sailed up to Hrisey Island, and all onboard could appreciate the beautiful landscape of this area. After spending some time searching we finally found a humpback whale, which was showing its fluke many times for the enjoyment of all.  In the afternoon, again close to Hrisey Island, we could see a big splash caused by a tail lobbing humpback. The whale was raising its tail fluke out of the water and slapped many times (tail slap behaviour), and also slapped its peduncle several times (peduncle slap behaviour). There was another humpback close to this individual, but this one was calm and slow. Thus, we justed stayed there and enjoyed. 

Photographs and text by Manu Bassoi.

Monday, 15 May 2017

What a fantastic relaxing day we had in Eyjafjördur today. The sun was shining, the sea was calm and so were the 4 to 5 humpback whales we were fortunate enough to encounter on our morning and our afternoon tour. In the morning it took us literally less than 10 minutes to see our first humpback. This individual seemed just to take a stroll around the harbour before we could follow it further out into the fjord. A great start to a really fun tour. Most of our time we spent with two individuals which were resting deeply. They just seemed to be hanging on the water surface so that we could see them permanently and stayed with them simply to enjoy. It truly felt almost magical to share a calm siesta with these two humpbacks. In the afternoon the whales seemed to be slightly more active and so we could whiteness many beautiful flukes, including the return of one of our regulars from last year ‘Awesome Fluker’. We sure were happy to see it! Again a very fun day with the Eyjafjördur humpbacks.

Pictures and text by Babsi Neubarth

Sunday, 14 May 2017

The weather was cold and overcast which felt like we are not in Spring anymore, mainly if compared with last week. However, we were very excited to get out on the water today after the amazing encounter yesterday where a humpback whale was found in very shallow waters. As we traveled north many birds were in the area, and a blow was seen. It was a humpback whale, swimming very calm but diving deep and staying a long time underwater. Therefore we decided to continue sailing northwards searching for other whales. As we passed Hjalteyri, there we saw many, but many long-tailed ducks and arctic terns on the east side of the fjord. Soon a blow could be spotted in the same area, a humpback whale. Again the cetacean was in very shallow waters, less than 2 meters depth, what seemed that it could be feeding. It was an amazing picture with so many birds, the whale and the beautiful landscape. We could stay a good time appreciating this "natural geographic" moment before heading back to Akureyri.

Photographs and text by Manu Bassoi.

Saturday, 13 May 2017

Today began quite grey with clouds covering most of the sky and raining. However, the wind was really light and the sea was beautifully flat. On the way out, only a few minutes after leaving the harbour, one humpback whale was seen popping up and its blow was very clear. The whale was calm and seemed to be travelling rather than feeding, showing its fluke sometimes. The humpback breached once, which was a pleasant surprise. 
We searched in the nearby areas and another humpback whale showed off, as many harbour porpoises. In such flat seas is much easier to spot porpoises. We could enjoy more time the presence of these beautiful cetaceans, as the landscape. After been snowing in the past few days the mountains are covered in ice, enhancing the beauty of the fjord. 

Photographs and text by Manu Bassoi.

Friday, 12 May 2017

Another day full of humpbacks and harbour porpoises in the fjord. Even though it was raining and snowing quite a bit it did not stop us from going out on two tours today. In the morning we took our Rib boat out for a fast ride and could enjoy the presence of two humpback whales and many harbour porpoises. The first whale was not far away from Akureyri and its sight surely made us forget the slightly chilly temperatures. In the afternoon we took our big boat Holmasol for a stroll in the fjord and were fortunate enough to encounter three feeding humpbacks, many porpoises and briefly one minke whale. We are not sure what happened with the porpoises today, but they were so curious about Holmasol that they checked it out from every possible angle. Our passengers could even follow them directly underneath the water surface as they swam and surfaced directly next to us. What a treat to see the big humpbacks and the tiny porpoises so agile and close.

Text by Babsi Neubarth, pictures by Manu Bassoi and Babsi

Thursday, 11 May 2017

Today was the maiden voyage of our new boat "Holmasol". We could not have been more excited to finally see it in action. The sky was overcast, threatening to rain and snow all afternoon. However, that didn't affect good sightings for humpbacks whales. Approaching Hjalteyri, two blows could be seen and we spent some time waiting for the whales to surface. 
We stayed joining these whales and on the way back we could spot two more humpbacks. So far, four whales in the morning, and many harbour porpoises too; not a bad start to this day. In the afternoon, we sailed on the RIB boat. The weather was not good, snowing and cold. However, we had a very nice encounter with a Humpback whale in the eastern part of the fjord. It was a few hundred metres from as so we made our way closer slowly.  After appreciating the whale we moved to a second humpback which was moving very slowly and was much easier to watch showing its flukes many times. Great pictures and the encounter paid off the colder temperatures in the afternoon.

Photographs and text by Manu Bassoi.

WEDNESDAY, 10 MAY 2017

NO TOURS TODAY

Tuesday, 9 May 2017

At first, we sailed towards the area that we have seen whales in the previous day, and one Humpback whale was spotted. There was a moment when the boat was completely stopped, no engines, just waiting for its next appearance when the whale suddenly appeared close to the boat and surprised us all. It was a great moment. In the afternoon, sailing was smooth but progressively became windy as we sailed northern. However, it was not a problem to meet our first whale, a Humpback. We searched the location from the previous sighting in the morning and the whale was then spotted moving very quickly. The Humpback was proving to be very hard to watch as it surfaced some distance away from the area it was first seen. We waited for some time and moved towards two Humpback whales that were not far away. The animals were moving slowly and showing the fluke many times, which was very appreciated by the passengers, and many beautiful photos were taken. On the way back, many long-tailed ducks were seen flying across the fjord, with fulmars and arctic terns also being seen throughout the trip. 

Photographs and text by Manu Bassoi

Monday, 08 May 2017

We couldn't count on it, but of course we were wishing and hoping that yesterday's feeding frenzy would continue today and make our tours as unforgettable as the ones yesterday. Well, we can only say they absolutely did with humpback whales opening their jaws wide only a few meters next to us. In the morning we once more had to face the fog, but nevertheless found the two humpback whales we had already seen yesterday. They were still or again feeding which was simply a breathtaking experience. Overall we saw 4 humpbacks whales on this tour which were a bit further out. On the afternoon tour we didn't have to search long to see a big splash caused by a tail lobbing humpback. This individual was also busy feeding and showed us many behaviours so that we justed stayed there, turned of the engines and enjoyed. Another marvelous day in Eyjafjördur.

Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth