After a cancelled day, we enjoyed a beautiful day with clear skies and almost no wind. We didn’t have to travel for long when we encountered the Humpback whale of the day! Around Hjalteri we found an individual that was feeding on the surface for the entire encounter. We observed the animal dragging and, in a couple of occasions, even lunge feeding! Pictures don’t really manage to do justice to the beauty and the thrill of the moment!
Pictures and text by Alberto Alejandro
All tours cancelled today due to unfavourable weather conditions.
Thrilling day out in the cold fiord, with two tours packed of experiences and adventures! Our morning tour was slightly windier, whereas in the afternoon we enjoyed almost perfect mirror seas. On our first tour we saw a small pod of 6-8 White Beaked Dolphins and a pair of Humpback whales, the latest ones probably feeding on the area. On the afternoon trip we saw only one whale of the two, pointing that probably the pair was only together to help each other to feed. Overall, another amazing day on our beloved fiord!
Pictures and text by Alberto Alejandro
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Today’s tour felt alomst like summer when we sailed out in one of the warmest days of February having completely flat ocean conditions again. Usually we start the tour from saying few basic informations about safety and what we have on board but this time we didn’t even manage to finish that speech as we found our first and only whale today right behind the industrial part of Akureyri harbor. The whale was busy feeding and we even had a chance to observe a special feeding technique that we call “lounge feeding” - quite rare to see and made our tour as he did that several times. Our fish-finder device was showing lots of food in the area so after few surfacing of this whale we decided to head out north to see if we may have more animals in the Fjord but didn’t succeed in finding them - we spotted lots of birdlife and enjoyed Eyafjordur landscape on the way, eventually coming back to our first whale to spent some more time with him. This individual we know quite well, although it doesn’t have a name yet, we’ve been seeing him a lot both in January and February and once even breaching! He’s definitely one of our favourites this winter.
Pictures and Text: Ania Wójcik
Due to unfavourable weather conditions, our tour had to be cancelled. We’ll be back out there tomorrow!
What a day! We sailed out from Akureyri harbor having dream conditions for spotting cetaceans, almost no wind and the water surface that was completely flat - it didn’t took us more than 20min to spot our first animals and it was a big group of White beaked dolphins with their calves! The pod was about 30 individuals and as they’re known for beeing very social and curious animals it was amazing to have them approaching us so we had a chance to observe them from a closer distance. We stayed with them for a while and headed out north to look for more animals. We sailed out all the way to Hrisey where we found a very relaxed Humpback whale. We recognized this individual, he’s been a regular visitor this winter and got a temporary name “Right hook” due to hook-shaped mark on the right side of his tail. He was going for rather shorter dives so we had many chances to oberve that individual and stayed with him til the end of the tour.
Pictures and Text: Ania Wójcik
It was a windy, clear morning when we sailed out into the fiord. Luckily for us, the wind was coming from the South which made the first half of the trip quite smooth and enjoyable. It didn’t take long until we encountered the first and only whale of the day, a Humpback whale that we have seen in the fiord during the last days. Again, the animal seemed to be feeding on the spot, judging by the way it was surfacing and the fact that wasn’t changing much the area. Slowly, we got the chance to reach the animal and observe it really close from our boat, making the day for all of our costumers!
Pictures and text by Alberto Alejandro
We sailed out a little bit suspicious with the wind - the forecast predicted a few meters per second, but luckily for us it came from the south and out way into the fiord was smoother than expected. We searched thoroughly the area in which we have spotted a few Humpback whales on the last days, but unfortunately there wasn’t much to be seen. We continued our search further out, but it wasn’t until we reached the island of Hrísey that we encountered the Humpback whale of the day! Despite being so far away from the city, we managed to get a few good close encounters with the individual, for the delight of our passengers. The way back was a little bit windier, but we still enjoyed the sun and the warm temperatures that finally arrived to the North of Iceland!
Pictures and text by Alberto Alejandro
We enjoyed a beautiful calm and sunny day out in the fiord, just in between two stormy days. It didn’t take too long before we spotted the first and only cetacean of the day, a wonderful Humpback whale swimming around just about 30 minutes away from Akureyri. Judging by the position of the individual and the pattern of pigmentation of its fluke, we realized that it was the same individual that we spotted yesterday. We could observe, again, the presence of great accummulations of fish by the bottom of the fiord, about 60-70 m deep. Since the animal was continuously going for deep dives and surfacing on almost the same spot, we believed the animal was feeding. All and all, a wonderful way to spend the day out at sea!
Pictures and text by Alberto Alejandro
*click on the picture to see more!
Monday morning greeted us with lots of snow and wind that forced us to cancel the morning tour. We were not sure if to go in the afternoon due to big waves in the Fjord but in the end it was a great decision to go out! A very relaxed Humpback whale found us just around Hjalteyri, most likely feeding as our fish-finder device was showing crazy amount of herring in the area. The whale seemed to be very relaxed and didn’t mind our presence at all, in fact two times approched us so we had amazing opportunity to take a closer look at the animal. The weather was getting better and better and on the way back we could even enjoy some sun. Great day to be out there!
Pictures and Text: Ania Wójcik
Unfortunately, and after 2 wonderful days of sightings in the fiord, we have to cancel due to bad weather. We will be back tomorrow with more whales!
Today, and for a change, we sailed today on board Konsul. The conditions where even better than yesterday: no wind, clear skies, sun, and just a bit of swell in the outside areas. We headed straight to the East side of the island of Hrísey, once more following the hint that was given to us by other boats. Upon our arrival, we searched for a bit until, finally, we spotted 2 blows quite north. To our surprise it was, indeed, the same couple of individuals that we spotted yesterday. The whales went continuously for short dives, and were popping up almost always on the same spot. Possibly, they were feeding on the area. We got to see a little bit of socialization as well, when one of the whales performed a few subtle peduncle throws. Another great day in the company of our Humpback whales!
Pictures and text b Alberto Alejandro
Challenging day today! The weather had calm down extraordinarily, and we enjoyed a day with no wind and mirror seas for almost the entire trip. We went almost to the North-East tip of the island of Hrísey, where the swell was a big higher than in the southern areas but not as big as the previous day. There we searched for the Humpback whales, following a hint we received from fishermen. However, we did not spot them and after 2 hours and a half we gave up and started to return to Akureyri. That is, indeed, the magic of whale watching! We spotted three Humpback whales on the southern corner of Hrísey, and we got to spend some time with a couple that was chilling out without going for long dives. At the end, an amazing experience of winter whale watching!
Pictures and text by Alberto Alejandro
Today’s tour was a difficult one. We sailed out for almost 4 hours, on a slightly windy and clear morning. We sailed past the area of Hrísey. There, the swell was substantially big, and made out sail bumpy and rocky. The path was a little bit nicer on our way back, and we even got to ride the waves with the entire ship. Unfortunately we weren’t able to locate any whales, and therefore we offered our costumers complimentary tickets so they can come and try again once more!
Picture and text by Alberto Alejandro
It is part of the game that we go out sometimes and don't see any whales - it is very unlucky in comparison to yesterday but of course this is wildlife and we have no control over what is going to happen out there - today we blame the weather. We started the tour with very difficult sighting conditions, the fog was blocking the view completely and the majority of the time we were struggling with poor visibility around us. We had a call from friends in the Fjord that at least one Humpback whale was seen around Hjalteyri, but unfortunately we were not able to find him. We sailed out all the way to Hrisey and the fog seemed to slowly moving in higher layers of clouds so on the way back we were able to enjoy sailing in the sun surrounded by birds and beautiful winter landscape of Eyafjordur. Unfortunately no cetaceans were found today. At the end of the tour we offered complimentary tickets to all our passangers. Hopefully the fog will be gone by tomorrow!
Pictures and Text: Ania Wojcik
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Another day, another exciting adventure on our fiord! We sailed out on a fairly clear, windless afternoon. The sun was shining high in the sky, the path out the harbour was clear and (for the first time in a while) unfrozen, and we spotted the Humpback whale of the tour quite close to the harbour. The animal was swimming permanently towards south, but after a few minutes of whale watching the weather switched radically. A strong wind followed us all the way until the very end of the tour. However, we got to see one of those unique moments that everybody wants to see and almost nobody manages to when going whale watching: a BREACH! Unexpectedly, the animal jumped twice a hundred meters away from us. Not long after that we had to cancel the final part of the tour due to the strong wing, but we are sure that at everybody brought home one of the highlights of their travel to Iceland!
Pictures and text by Alberto Alejandro
A little bit more of wind, a little bit less of swell, and as always the Humpback whales waiting for us in the fiord, once more quite close to the island of Hrísey. This time, the two individuals that we spotted were clearly interacting with each other and going for dives at the same time. According to our fish finder, there was a little bit of fish near the bottom, which makes it fairly possible that the whales were feeding on that spot. Once more a remarkable tour!
Pictures and text by Alberto Alejandro
In comparison with yesterday, today was an amazing clear morning in Eyjafjordur, No wind, clear skies, although a bit of swell once we passed Hjalteri. Although we had to sail all the way to the island of Hrísey, we managed to find two Humpback whales. The individuals shared the location, although they didn’t seem to be socializing among each other. Surface after surface, it was clear they were not leaving the spot, nor wandering around the fiord. Let’s hope we will find them in this same spot tomorrow in our 13.00 tour!
Pictures and text by Alberto Alejandro
Today’s tour was quite extreme. The fog is back with it’s full power and so are the waves. We sailed out all the way to Hrisey Island scanning the east side of the Fjord but as the waves were getting bigger and bigger, we turned around and changed the route to search through the west side of the Fjord. We’ve been told by friends that a group of dolphins was seen around Hauganes but we didn’t find them. At this point it started snowing again and we could barely see what’s in front of us. We’ve seen some bird life and enjoyed the purest icelandic winter, but no cetaceans were found today so we offered complimentary tickets for all our passengers. Hopefully the visibility will get better tomorrow!
Pictures and text: Ania Wojcik
Winter is not spoiling us this year! Heavy snow and big waves kept us on land today - the tour had to be cancelled. Hopefully it gets better tomorrow!
