saga@elding.is
NATURE BLOG ARCHIVE

Elding Whale Watching Akureyri has been keeping track of whale sightings in Eyjafjörður since the beginning of May 2016. Read the nature blog to follow up on past sightings.

NATURE BLOG ARCHIVE

Monday, 25 March 2019

A beautiful day out on the fjord. Not too much wind, calm seas and warmer than usual temperatures. Today the sail led us around Hrisey Island where we found some beautiful dolphins. There was a large pod of them approximately 15-20 individuals. There was also a few calves with them, one of which had a very unique white and black patterning. The dolphins gave us a wonderful show and surfaced many times swimming all the way around the boat, coming up only 20 meters away at times. Delighted to see the dolphins back in the fjord.

Pictures and text by Tess Hudson

Sunday, 24 March 2019

A beautiful day, with a clear sunny sky and good sailing conditions as we made out way down the fjord. Once further out we did experience a seasonal snow storm but were quickly out the other side. On our tour we found a small pod of beautiful harbour porpoises which we got to see porpoising out of the water. It was so lovely to see their tiny forms popping up so elegantly. Lots of birds were also seen including: black and common guillemot, kittiwake, northern fulmar, icelandic gull, eider duck and the beautiful long tailed ducks which were in huge flocks flying, feeding and resting. Did you know that the long tailed duck can dive up to 60 meters? It’s one of the best diving ducks in the world! They do this so they can get to their prey on or near the ocean floor. They feed mainly upon mollusks and crustaceans. Unfortunately, no larger cetaceans were seen and therefore, complimentary tickets were given out to allow our guests to try their luck again. Regardless, it seem everyone enjoyed the wonderful sail out on the fjord.

Pictures by Ania Wojcik and text by Tess Hudson

Saturday, 23 March 2019

Lovely sailing conditions today and a wonderful view. Yesterday we had snow blizzards all day and night so this morning the whole landscape was capped in a beautiful fresh powdered snow. The sun was also shining and warming our faces. We sailed all the way to Hrisey Island and back and saw some wonderful wildlife including; eider duck, kittiwake, northern fulmar, icelandic gull, storm petrel, long tailed duck and harbour porpoises. Throughout our sail we also noticed a large amount of fish on our fish finder as we sailed the fjord. However, there weren´t any whales to eat them today, so complimentary tickets were given out to passengers so they can come back and see some of the fantastic cetaceans Iceland has to offer.

Pictures and text by Tess Hudson

Thursday, 21 March 2019

Spring is slowly arriving in the Fjord, You can feel it and see it as more and more birdlife is magnetised to the area. We started the tour again from Dalvik, in the beginning we headed out north but the swell was picking up and after a while of rocking on waves we decided to turn around and scan deeper part of the Fjord. We enjoyed travelling in the sun again being followed by lots of birds - Fulmars and Kittiwakes were acompaning us all the way. We finished the tour in Akureyri harbor. No whales today, we gave complimentary tickets to all our passengers.

Pictures and Text: Ania Wojcik

Wednesday, 20 March 2019

Another beautiful day in the Fjord. Today we started the tour from Dalvik as recent sightings were happening further out we decided to start the search from Hrisey area. We spotted lots of birdlife including Seagulls, Eider Ducks, Black Guillemots and even had a chance to see a group of Long tailed ducks which are rather a rare sighting in our area. Sailing through winter scenery of Eyafjorður in the sun is always enjoyable. Few of our passengers were lucky enough to see small group of dolphins but they were too quick to follow this time and not everyone was able to notice them. No whales today, we gave out complimentary tickets to all our guests, hopefully we’ll have better luck tomorrow!

Pictures and Text: Ania Wojcik

Tuesday, 19 March 2019

A beautiful sunny day out on the fjord today, sailing conditions were a little bumpy but nothing uncomfortable, as the passengers had a great time riding the waves. We sailed all the way to Hrisey then turned back but found a wonderful group of white-beaked dolphins on the way. They were jumping, breaching and side slapping all at once! It was incredible to watch. The pod, about 10 strong stayed with us for some time before heading further north but not before they came zooming up to the boat and popped up just a meter and a half away. Dolphinatly a great day!

Pictures and text by Tess Hudson

Monday, 18 March 2019

What a wonderful day to be out at sea! The conditions were just lovely, it was sunny and not too cold and the waves gave us quite some entertainment. Our tour today started and ended in Dalvík, this meant we could go further out and see what was further out of the fjord. Very close to Ólafsfjörður we found a whole array of bird life, from fulmars to storm petrels, who were feeding, flying and diving. Not long after we found some beautiful white beaked dolphins. Who repeatedly swam up to us and were checking us out from under the water was really amazing to see! The dolphins showed us their wonderful dorsal’s and patterned bodies as they swam around the boat, just fantastic!

Pictures and text by Tess Hudson

Sunday, 17 March 2019

Orcas in the Fjord!!!! Finally after few days with lack of sightings we found nothing ordinary - we found Killer Whales. It took us quite a while to find them, we had to sail out all the way to Olafsfjordur but it was worth the effort. It was our first sighting this year with those magnificent animals and it was at least one big family travelling together and we were able to recognize that there were many young individuals among them. We had two amazing encounters when few of them approached us very close to the boat - it looked like they were as curious about us as we were about them. Amazing day to be out there!

Text: Ania Wojcik
Pictures: Tess Hudson



Saturday, 16 March 2019

Beautiful sailing conditions on the fjord today, flat seas, little wind and a stunning clear sky complete with a warm sun. We sailed almost the whole length of the fjord today in search of cetaceans but unluckily none were to be found. Nevertheless, we were supplied with an unlimited amount of spectacular snow capped mountains, a crystal clear fjord and many bird species to boot. Happy to say many enjoyed our wonderful tour and are eager to return with us and their complimentary tickets to see some fantastic whales.

Pictures and text by Tess Hudson

Friday, 15 March 2019

Did you know that the common guillemot is one of the deepest diving flying birds on the planet? Dives of up to 180 meters have been recorded for this amazing species of auk. On our tour today we saw a fantastic range of sea birds including the striking eider ducks, the famous fulmars, the cool cormorants, kick ass kittiwakes, the commanding common guillemot of course, and its cousin the black guillemot too. At one point a porpoise also popped up briefly but no larger cetaceans were seen on our tour today. Complimentary tickets were given out and many of our passengers said that they would be more than happy to come again just for the beauty of the fjord.

Picture by Anna and text by Tess Hudson

Thursday, 14 March 2019

Today we have many passengers on our tours so we had to go out on two boats! We got to sail all the way round Hrisey and back enjoying the wonderful snow capped mountains and lovely landscape as we did so. Unfortunately, there were no whales to be found but we did get to see some beautiful porpoises that quickly popped up. Passengers were all issued complimentary tickets which can be used here in Akureyri or in Reykjavik with our sister company Elding.

Picture by Anna, text by Tess Hudson

Wednesday, 13 March 2019

Due to the remnants of the storm yesterday it was a bit windy and wavy out there today. Nothing unpleasant of course but a bit more than the usual. Today we ventured all the way round Hrisey island and back but no whales were found. However, we did see the beautiful landscape of Eyjafjörður and some amazing bird species like the northern fulmar, black and common guillemot, icelandic gull and eider duck. Due to the lack of cetaceans we gave out complimentary tickets and many of our passengers have already booked for our tour tomorrow as they just loved seeing the scenery, the whales are just a bonus.

Picture by Ania and text by Tess Hudson

Monday, 11 March 2019

A beautiful sunny day out on the fjord today. It was a bit windy during the tour today and this did pick up throughout the tour, however, the sea conditions remained good. We enjoyed the beautiful snow capped mountains of Eyjafjörður as we sailed along. There was lots of birds spotted on the tour including: northern fulmar, black legged kittiwake, common guillemot, black guillemot, icelandic gull, black backed gull, cormorant and eider duck. As we approached a flock of feeding sea birds, a small pod of harbour porpoises popped up which were a delight to watch. Unfortunately, no larger cetaceans were spotted, therefore complimentary tickets were issued to all passenger allowing them to come on another one of our whale watching tours for free to see these incredible creatures.

Pictures and text by Tess Hudson

Sunday, 10 March 2019

Dolphinatly, a great day to be out on the fjord. The conditions were just lovely, the sea was calm, very little wind and not too chilly. As we were sailing just past Hjalteyri, a large pod of white-beaked dolphins popped up and came super close you could even see them swimming right under the waters surface. The pod was at least 30 strong, with mothers and calves. As we were watching them some even began to jump out of the water, showing us their whole bodies. One even leaped out of the water three times in a row, doing something called inverted breaching, where they jump and then turn in the air, absolutely spectacular to watch!

Pictures and text by Tess Hudson

Saturday, 9 March 2019

Another glorious day on the fjord! The shining sun warmed our faces as we sailed out, the sea was completely calm and there was very little wind making sailing a delight. Only 20 minutes into the trip we found our first whale. A beautiful humpback popped up to delight us, with some lovely surfacing´s. Unfortunately, as we were watching our wonderful whale a passenger had a little accident so we had to sail back to harbour to drop them off. However, that did not mean our whale watching was over, again we headed out and found our humpback, who again showed us some lovely surfacing´s and even raised its might fluke out of the water for us. Just fantastic!

Pictures and text by Tess Hudson

Friday, 8 March 2019

Wowza! What a day! The sun was shining, the sky blue and the conditions perfect for sailing, we really could not ask for more! But we were blessed with more, as the whales are back in town. Our beautiful humpback whale, Poppy, has returned and delighted us today with some spectacular feeding behaviour! Not only did it surface every three minutes (a very short amount of time for a humpback) but it displayed lunge feeding and even rolling. Allowing us to see its 4 meter long pectoral fins as it did so! Simply magnificent. And to make things even better this lovely humpie was only a 20 minute sail from harbour! So we were able to spend some time with it and enjoyed watching this incredibility fascinating behaviour. Can´t wait to get back out there.

Pictures and text by Tess Hudson

Thursday, 7 March 2019

Another beautiful day on the fjord, the sun was shining, the fjord was flat and only a little frozen, mostly around the harbour. We sailed all the way passed Hrisey and continued on a little more. We saw lots of birds including: northern fulmar, kittiwakes, guillemots and storm petrels. Lot of birds but no whales, hopefully they will be back soon. Of course all of the passengers were offered complimentary tickets so they can come again on one our tours. We may of had no whales but we did have wonderful sailing conditions and a beautiful view of the entire fjord.

Pictures and text by Tess Hudson