We cannot get tired of our humpbacks whales: Depill, Moonshine and few more are hanging around Hjalteyri. Today we witnessed very friendly behaviour from our whales as they approached us very closely, some of them were spy-hopping and lob-tailing. To put the cherry on the top of the cake, apart from minke whale we enjoyed a lovely sunny day in the fjord.
Tours: Classic 09:00, 13:00 ; Express 14:00
Text and pictures by Ewa Malinoswka and Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalán
More and more humpbacks are flooding the fjord and even though today was a bit windy we could enjoy these animals in its more purest state. Far from being away from us, some of them showed a huge interest in our boats and they came very close to us and they even surfaced in tandems! Let´s hope to find more of these beauties the next days.
Tours: Classic: 09:00, 13:00 Express: 10:00, 14:0, 17:00
Text and pictures by Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan
A windy, wet, but wonderful day out on the fjord today. We were blessed with not one but three humpback whales who delighted us on all of our tour today. Moonshine was of course there to entertain us coming up very close many times. Depill was also back in the fjord today after a weeks absence. Two new whales also popped up, one even began swimming right next to our boat which was super exciting to see! A minke whale was also spotted on our morning tour which we briefly watched. The super cute harbour porpoises also popped up numerous times throughout the day delighting us with some wonderful surfacing´s. A wild, windy and wonderful day in Eyjafjörður.
Tours: Classic: 09:00, 13:00, 17:00 Express: 10:00
Pictures and text by Tess Hudson
Our first tour of the morning started a bit rainy and windy, but the weather got better and we had the first encounter with a humpback whale next to Hjalteyri. This individual was seen also yesterday around this area, and it´s a new individual in our catalogue. It has a very distinctive coloration pattern in its fluke, and during the tour we have been thinking of a name for this new friend. Our second sighting was with our common humpback whale called Moonshine, that keeps offering us such a special and friendly encounters. It was another good whale watching day in the fjord!
Departures today: Classic: 09:00 & 13:00, Express 10:00
Pictures by Babsi & Text Barbara Hintermayer
What a way to end up the week! Our super-humpback whale-star Moonshine (spotted for the first time in 2016) was still hanging around Hjalteyri and we could enjoyed it for the whole day. It delighted us with incredible close encounters and we were amazed by its relaxed mood with us. At the end of the day, we spotted a new humpback whale in the area, maybe more of them are arriving? Join us tomorrow to discover it!
Departures today: Classic: 09:00 & 13:00 Express: 10:00 & 17:00
Pictures & Text Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan
1st day of June greeted us with a cloudy and cold morning but also rather flat seas so we had perfect conditions to spot animals. We had amazing and close encounters with our recent star whale - Moonshine, which is a humpback whale that we named due to significant moon-shaped notch in it’s fluke and a whale that we’ve been seeing a lot in past few weeks. We know Moonshine quite well already as it´s a regular visitor in Eyafjordur area since 2016. On all our tours today we also had a chance to admire a feeding Minke whale, many harbor porpoises and lots of birdlife including Northern Gannets, Arctic Terns and Fulmars. Amazing day! We can’t wait to go out there tomorrow!
Departures today: Classic: 09:00, 13:00 & 17:00 Express: 10:00 & 14:00
Pictures & Text by Ania Wojcik
Today we finally got a break from the strong winds that we encountered here in the fjord the last few days. The sea was calm and even the sun dared to break through the clouds more and more during the day. Thanks to these nice conditions we were able to enjoy lots of harbour porpoises as we sailed up North. But also two of our humpback whales were not for out, in the same area where we found “Moonshine“ yesterday. And it turned out that Moonshine was indeed one of those humpback whales. They appeared to be feeding in the area and came up very frequently and in the end one surfaced right next to our vessel, just meters away. In addition to that, we also got to see minke whales during our tours today!
Departures today: Classic: 09:00, 13:00 & 17:00 Express: 10:00 & 14:00
Text & Pictures by Hanna Michel
Wonderful day out on the fjord today, it was sunny, the fjord was rather flat and there was very little wind. Today we were delighted by the majestic Moonshine our favorite humpback of the moment. This wonderful whale showed us its lovely fluke on all of our tours today. Moonshine so called due to the half moon shaped notch in the top left hand side of its fluke (tail). It also has a very distinctive dorsal fin with white stripes, therefore, making Moonshine a very recognizable whale. Another wonderful day out on the fjord.
Tours: Classic: 10:00 & 13:00, Express 10:00, 12:00 & 14:00
Pictures and text by Tess Hudson
One of our favorite whales was still around today, lovely “Moonshine”! In the morning we saw it together with another humpback whale but in the afternoon we saw it on its own heading to an area further North in the Fjord before it started to feed. The wind had picked up since this morning and our way out was a bit choppy but thanks to the mountains around Eyjafjörður we were still sheltered from the strong, cold winds. And when you see the beautiful tail of a humpback whale going down, you will forget about the freezing temperatures immediately.
Departures today: Classic: 13:00 Express: 10:00 & 14:00
Text by Hanna Michel
Pictures: Ania Wójcik
Is it possible that winter has returned? Well apparently, as snow started to fall this morning and continued in bouts throughout the day. Therefore, the tours were quite chilly but whale punches (hot chocolate and rum) and overalls were used to warm up our passengers to brilliant effect. Our morning tour spotted two lovely humpback whales and our afternoon tours found our beautiful Moonshine who delighted us with some wonderful surfacing and dives. Our express tour was able to go further out and they saw some exceptional behaviours like tail slapping, tail lobbing and even breaching, which was just super fantastic to watch! Another breathtaking day out on the fjord.
Tours: Classic: 13:00, Express: 10:00 & 14:00
Pictures and text by Tess Hudson
Sailing in the fjord turned out to be a bumpy, windy, but sunny experience n this Monday in May. The humpback whales were matching this activity level by moving around and covering large distances. Between Akureyri and Hjalteyri we could find up to 5 different individual humpback whales. Marie, Depill and Moonshine were three individuals we recognized. Mainly feeding and traveling they did not seem to mind the cold winds and showed us the flukes in their beloved manner. A nice day out at sea.
Tours departed today: Classic: 9, 13 & 17, Express: 10 & 14
Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth
Marvelous blue skies greeted us early in the morning and would stay throughout the day. This was the only similarity between morning and afternoon though. In the morning the seas were calm and so were the whales as most of the humpback and minke whales were resting. We saw four different individual humpback whales from far and close including our regulars Moonshine and Depill. In the afternoon the wind had picked up and the whales were mainly feeding all over the place. Hence, it was sometimes not the easiest to follow them. Nevertheless we got to see some nice interactions and flukes and had overall a lovely day.
Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth
A bit of wind was blowing from the North today, but luckily the sun made up for quite cold temperatures. We had a lot of wildlife in the fjord. Not just three species of cetaceans, also many different sea birds showed themselves and entertained us. We saw two minke whales and three humpback whales throughout the day. Moonshine and one other humpback seem to find a lot of food right underneath the water surface because they came up almost every minute. So we all had great chances to take pictures and compare the two flukes of the whales. Tomorrow we are having two extra departures at 8 am and noon for our German speaking passengers. If you have not booked your ticket, you can either call us or book online at wwa.is
Tours departures today: Classic: 13 Express: 10 & 14
Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth
Another day without the humpback whales disappointing us! There are at least 4-5 of them still in the southern part of the Fjord so that on our tours today we did not even have to go out very far to come across them. There is one humpback whale with a very asymmetrical pattern on its fluke that we have not see here in Eyjafjörður in previous years. The other two humpback whales that we spent most of the time with are already familiar to us, one of them was of course “Moonshine” that is becoming everyone’s favorite. Minke whales and harbour porpoises were also around today and we got two seem them pretty well in today’s nice sea conditions.
Tours out today: Classic: 09:00, 13:00 & 17:00, Express: 10:00 & 14:00
Text by Hanna Michel, pictures by Tess Hudson
A wonderful day out on the fjord today, it was a bit chilly out there today but our warm overalls kept us warm and toastie throughout the tour. Not long after leaving the harbour we found our first cetaceans. A wonderful humpback called Moonshine delighted us with some wonderful tail raising. Later on we found 3 more humpbacks. On our afternoon tours we spotted 4 humpback whales throughout the tour, these wonderful whales showed us their wonderful tails and beautiful bodies many times as they surfaced around the boat. On the tour two minke whales also surfaced in front of us and showed us their beautiful streamlined bodies.
Tours today: Classic: 09:00, 13:00 & 17:00 Express: 10:00 & 14:00
Pictures and text by Tess Hudson
A lovely day to sail, the fjord was flat, the weather warm and the sun was shining, what more do you need? The cetaceans did not disappoint today, our morning tour saw two minke whales and 4 different humpback whales, two travelling together and two separate and a wonderful pod of porpoises. Our afternoon tours were delighted with two humpback whales travelling together (not the same individuals as the morning interestingly enough), surfacing and diving in synchrony just beautiful. More porpoises were seen throughout the day too, leaping up out of the water which was super fantastic to see.
Tours out today: Classic: 09:00 & 13:00, Express: 14:00 & 16:00
Pictures and text by Tess Hudson
Our favorite humpback whales were still around today! Today we saw “Moonshine”, “Raven”, “Mary” and a few more humpback whales in the fjord. On our way out we even got a short glimpse at a minke whale in the distance. The humpback whales were all spread out and on their own. Raven seemed to be resting in the morning, while Mary seemed to be feeding in an area with lots of Arctic terns around hoping for some leftovers. The sea was calm and it was a bit chilly out there today which luckily the whales made us forget easily. On our way back we saw lots of harbour porpoises around!
Tour departures today: Classic: / Express: 10:00 & 14:00
Text by Hanna Michel, pictures by Tess Hudson
Another wonderful day with the whales in Eyjafjörður. In the morning we headed quite far out to two humpback whales that had been spotted in an area North of Hjalteyri. On our way there we also encountered several harbour porpoises and a minke whale that we saw a few times in the distance. The humpback whales appeared to be feeding - they stayed in the same area coming up here and there and going for deep dives in between. In the afternoon we saw another two humpback whales much closer to Akureyri. One of them was “Moonshine“ that we spent quite a while with before it was time to go home. The highlight of the tour though was a group of harbour porpoises that came up super close to the boat and one of them even swam back and forth a few times as if it wanted to check out the boat. They were so close that we could easily see them swimming beneath the surface to every ones joy!
Tour departures today: Classic: 09:00 & 13:00 Express: 10:00 & 14:00
Text and photos by Hanna Michel
What a great time to go whale watching here at the moment! We saw again at least 5 humpback whales that had traveled even further South towards Akureyri than yesterday. Most of the time we spent with two of them that were feeding in the area and coming up to the surface every few minutes before disappearing again to continue feeding. In the meantime we saw the blows of other humpback whales in the distance and suddenly even a minke whale showed up a couple of times. They whales just kept feeding, ignoring us and allowing us to slowly get closer to them. Awesome!
Tour departures today: Classic: \ Express: 10:00 & 14:00
Text by Hanna Michel, pictures by Tess Hudson
Another wonderful day with whales! In the morning we saw four humpback whales in the same area, not far away from where we saw them yesterday. The sea was calm and we were able to spend a good amount of time with them. “Moonshine” and “Mary” were among those four and all of them appeared to be feeding together with some Arctic terns and kittiwakes. Whenever they were going for dives they showed their beautiful flukes which allowes us to distinguish between them. After a while we headed further out but did not find any more whales so we headed back to the harbour and on our way good a final look at the humpies.
Tour departures today: Classic: 9:00, Express: 14:00
Text and photos by Hanna Michel
