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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

Friday, 19 April 2024

We had a beautiful day with great conditions! We went out in the afternoon with one group.
The wind from the south brought good weather and warmer temperatures, and barely made waves in the fjord.
We first saw the harbor porpoise we exiting Akureyri, and quickly saw 2 more humpback whales a few hundred meters away. They came close to us a few times, then separated. It seems like one of the whales started falling asleep since it was having quite an erratic comportment.

We then sailed with the other whale for a while and got amazing encounters until we started heading up north to check the fjord.

We were able to find a third humpback whale by Svalbarðseyri who was actively feeding. It was coming up regularly for one breath at a time. We then headed back home with plenty of sighting!

Text & Pictures: Yoann

Departures of the day: Classic Tour 14:00 o’clock.

Thursday, 18 April 2024

We had a moderate Northern wind in the fjord today and fairly low visibility with snowy conditions.

Our first encounter was with a Humpback Whale just North of Akureyri. This was Magnea and it was surfacing in almost the same spot each time. The dives were also just for a few minutes which meant we were able to see the whale very close largely without moving. A second Humpback was found a little further north, just North of Svalbarðseyri. This was Ind 20, diving slightly longer than Magnea and with longer inter-breath intervals.

On our midday tour, we encountered Magnea again but this time it was swimming roughly in a circle and making short dives which indicates that it was most likely feeding, we found it once again North of Akureyri. We kept sailing North and we also found Ind 20 but this time it was sleeping calmly and slowly surfacing in between the waves.

On the way back we also encountered a small pod of Harbour porpoises surfacing barely 10 meters from the boat making everyone “Awe” with their cuteness. And of course, during the whole trip, we saw countless Long-tailed ducks, Black guillemots and Northern fulmars!

Text & Photos: Mac & Gisela

Departures: Classic - 0900 & 1300 O´Clock. Express - 1000 O’Clock.

Wednesday, 17 April 2024

Today in our lovely Eyjafjörður we had the most ideal conditions for spotting. With a cloudy sky yet windless and waveless fjord ahead of us.

Just north of Akureyri, in between the hot waterfall and Svalbarðseyri, we encountered two Humpback Whales. One of them was our dark fluke frequent visitor for the past couple of weeks but the second one was an individual with a black and white fluke. Both whales were perfectly synchronized diving for just a few minutes, while one was deep diving the second one would surface so we had a constant sight of whales. A little further north, roughly around the green buoy, we found our third Humpback Whale. This whale stayed mostly in the same spot and exhibited very high flukes, flicking the tail on each dive.

Our afternoon tours were spent with our first 2 Humpbacks from the morning and this time we had the addition of a pod of roughly 30 Harbour porpoises.

Text & Photos: Gisela

Departures: Classic - 0900 & 1300 O’Clock.

Tuesday, 16 April 2024

We had great weather today, a minor northern wind and clear open skies made for ideal spotting conditions.

Our first encounter was with a Humpback Whale just north of Akureyri. This was our dark fluke individual Magnea. The whale was moving around quite a lot across the width of the fjord and diving for just a few minutes. A little further north, roughly around the green buoy, we found our second Humpback Whale. This whale stayed in mostly the same spot and exhibited many very high flukes, flicking back the tail on each dive.

Our afternoon tours were spent with the second whale by the green buoy once again as we were unable to locate Magnea further south.

Text & Photos: Mac

Departures: Classic - 0900 & 1300 O’Clock. Express - 1000 & 1600 O’Clock.

Monday, 15 April 2024

The weather fluctuated greatly today, with rapidly changing visibility from snow and a strong northern wind. This, together with a large Northern swell, ultimately pushed us toward the decision to cancel our afternoon and Rib tours.

We sailed north of Svalbarðseyri, roughly in line with the green buoy. Here we encountered a Humpback Whale several times. We had a mixture of distance to the whale, on one occasion surfacing very close to us, but we were greatly hampered by the sea conditions. On our return journey, however, we were treated to some great encounters with 2 more Humpbacks. These whales were surfacing very regularly, rarely down for longer than 2 minutes. These whales appeared to be feeding, evident through surface straining behaviours and our fish finder onboard confirmed a 10-meter-thick band of fish down at the bottom of the fjord.

Text & Photos: Mac

Departures: 0900 O’Clock Classic

Sunday, 14 April 2024

This was a perfect day, with a glassy ocean and a lot of sightings. There was no wind and a lot of sun. We encountered harbor porpoises, as well as a diversity of birds, but the best part was meeting two humpback whales very close to Akureyri (around Svalbarðseyri) .
Both whales were coming up frequently, and we were able to see them well. We even saw these two whales coming up at the same time, and they were only meters away from each other, the photographers on boards were in paradise!
The sun was warming us up and it was great to hang out on the boat surrounded by the cetaceans. We are very excited for tomorrow!

Text & Pictures: Yoann & Cheyenne

Departures of the day: Classic - 09:00, 10:00, 13:00 &14:00 o’clock. Express - 10:00, 13:00 & 14:00 o’clock.

Saturday, 13 April 2024

Today we had incredible conditions! Flat sea, hardly any wind and even sunshine in the afternoon.
During our tours, we encountered plenty of birds in the fjord as well as a few pods of Harbor Porpoises.
We also spotted three different Humpback Whales between Akureyri and Svalbarðseyri! This was very exciting. During the morning tour, we encountered two of them and then we saw all three during the afternoon tour. We saw one of them feed and all of them resurfaced very frequently, a number of times right by our boat!
We had an absolutely beautiful day and are very excited to sail out again tomorrow!

Text & Pictures: Cheyenne

Departures of the day: Classic Tours 09:00 & 13:00 o’clock.

Friday, 12 April 2024

Today, we had a little swell in our fjord, but generally the weather was fine.
On the tours, we spotted two different Humpback Whales!
In the morning, we sailed out in heavy snow and spotted one Humpback by the green buoy.
On our afternoon tour, we saw a different Humpback just north of Akureyri and again the same whale from the morning tour just north of Svalbarðseyri! How exciting!
We had pleasant, close encounters with both of them and saw a variety of birds as well!

Text & Pictures: Cheyenne

Departures of the day: Classic Tours 09:00 & 13:00 o’clock.

Thursday, 11 April 2024

Great day on the water in Eyjafjörður! We had hardly any wind and beautiful sailing conditions with a bit of snow throughout the day.
On our tours, we spotted plenty of Harbor Porpoises and two Humpback Whales, all of them were north of Svalbarðseyri!
We had amazing encounters, we first spotted one Humpback Whale and while waiting for it, we spotted another blow a bit further north of us. The second Humpback was heading south quickly and we saw both of them very well. One of them surfaced right in front of our RIB boat, leaving everyone on board very excited about seeing the whale this close, as it continued to take a few breaths before lifting its fluke and going down for a deep dive! An incredible encounter.
Our fjord is filled with wildlife and we are having great tours with the cetaceans of Eyjafjörður!

In our afternoon tour we encountered a different Humpback, Ind 20, just around the corner from the harbour opposite Heiti Foss. This whale surfaced many times around us, frequently emerging around the sides and in front less than 20 meters.

Text & Pictures: Mac & Cheyenne

Departures of the day: Classic Tours 09:00 & 13:00 o’clock. Express Tour 10:00 o’clock.

Wednesday, 10 April 2024

Today we had a moderate Eastern wind making the fjord surface quite choppy in patches with less protection from the mountains. The skies started off with around 50% cloud cover, however, this decreased to less than 10% by the end of the day.

On our morning tour we sailed out to East of the Green Buoy where we saw 3 Humpback Whales. From our fish finder data we could see very large patches of fish near the bottom of the fjord and this is presumably what the whales were here for. One of the whales, Camel, swam north fairly quickjly and by the time the rib arrived it was no longer sighted.

In our afternoon we sailed to the same place and observed the other two whales once again, diving and surfacing frequently. On 1 occasion the whale surfaced very close to us allowing all of our passengers to hear the mighty breath.

Text & Pictures: Mac & Cheyenne

Departures: Classic - 0900 & 1300 O’Clock. Express - 1000

Tuesday, 9 April 2024

The weather started today fairly flat but a strong Eastern wind meant the waves picked up quite considerably throughout the day.

On our morning tour we observed a Humpback Whale, very close to the harbour, seen swimming right next to the hot water fall Heiti Foss. This was Magnea and it was doing several standard low fluke dives, staying in a fairly similar spot. On one occasion the whale surfaced right in front of the bow of our boat and then proceeded to exhibit some resting or sleeping behaviours. On our afternoon tours we once again saw this whale and an additional Humpback located in between the green buoy and Hjalteyri. This whale was the one and only Camel and was demonstrating some extremely high fluke dives.

Text & Pictures: Mac

Departures: Classic - 0900 & 1300. Express - 1400

Saturday, 6 April 2024

The weather this morning turned out to be quite tricky for spotting because of the water colour despite the very flat water surface, minimal wind and patchy blue skies. The weather in the afternoon did worsen into the afternoon as a strong Eastern wind started to increase as the storm we are set to encounter tomorrow rolls in.

On our morning tour we sailed to Grenivik where we encountered the new Humpback Whale first seen yesterday. This whale was showing mixed high fluke and low flukes dives and on several occasions we saw the whale close to our boat. On our return journey we encountered 2 more Humpbacks, the recent residents we have been seeing. Slightly strange as we sailed very slowly past Hjalteyri on the way out in the hope to see them here.

On our afternoon tour we sailed to Hjalteyri and here we were able to encounter Magnea, a Humpback Whale we had seen on our return earlier. The whale surfaced several times around us and, despite the very difficult spotting conditions from a few hundred meter visibility, we were able to see many times. Unusually for this whale we witnessed many very high fluking dives, by far the highest I have ever seen this whale lift its caudal fin.

Text & Pictures: Mac

Departures: 0900 & 1300 O’Clock Classic

Friday, 5 April 2024

The weather in the fjord today was very favorable for spotting, there was a very minor Southern wind but with clear skies and a glass like water surface.

We sailed to East of Hjalteyri on both tours finding 3 Humpback Whales. Our 2 regular individuals and the new whale first spotted yesterday. The whales here were diving for less than 5 minutes each and on our afternoon tour spend much time around our boat. We were fortunate enough to have the whales surface several times right next to the boat giving us views of the whale swimming below the water surface as we watched from above. This is not something I’ve experienced in a whale as the water has been so dark recently and it was really nice to witness once again.

Text & Pictures: Mac

Departures: 0900 & 1300 O’Clock Classic

Thursday, 4 April 2024

The weather today was idyllic, glassy seas in places with a minor South Easterly wind.

On our morning tour 2 Humpback Whales were found just West of Grenivik. One of which was our current resident black and white fluke ‘Camel’, while the second was a NEW whale! The first new Humpback in 2 months.

In our afternoon tour we struggled to find these whales, sailing to North of Hrisey. However, we were unable to see anything and it wasn’t until our return journey South that we had our first sighting. We found that same Humpback Whale from the morning tour once again by Grenivik, however, behaving in a manor which made it very difficult to spot. The whale first dove for approximately 20 minutes and surfaced some kilometer away from where we last saw it. This behaviour explained why we were unable to initially find it but we did still manage to see the whale several times before.

Text & Photos: Mac & Cheyenne

Departures: 0900 & 1300 O’Clock Classic

Wednesday, 3 April 2024

Wow! Fantastic weather conditions in Eyjafjörður today! No wind, sunshine and mirrorlike water!
On our tours, we encountered two different Humpback Whales, plenty of Harbor Porpoises and one Minke Whale!
We saw the whales surface often, even around our boat! Hearing their breaths on a calm day like today, having close encounters in these great weather conditions is simply spectacular. The cetaceans were spotted south of Hjalteyri, all relatively close to each other in a similar area. Additionally, we spotted many birds, like Long-tailed Ducks or Northern Fulmars.
We are more than excited to sail out again tomorrow!

Text & Pictures: Cheyenne
Departures of the day: Classic Tours 09:00 & 13:00 o’clock.

Tuesday, 2 April 2024

The weather today was beautiful… in spells. We had a strong Eastern wind and northern swell that varied throughout the day providing a mixture of glassy and choppy seas. It was overcast for the whole morning, however, in the afternoon the entire sky open up to reveal all of the mountains with sunny skies.

In our morning tour we sailed to in line with Grenivik where we encountered our recent resident Humpback Whale. The whale was diving for around 5 minutes at the beginning with very high flukes, however, this did change later on and we left the whale exhibiting no fluke surface swimming. Here in the first picture, you can see a new piece of jewelry our loving Humpback has acquired. This fishing line appears to be tangled around the barnacles on its fluke, seemingly not posing a serious threat, however highlights clearly the dangers that discarded fishing gear can have on cetaceans. We will look to monitor this ‘bling’, so long as we continue to see this whale, and hope it does not start to pose a problem.

On our afternoon tour we were unable to find any cetaceans, visiting the area the whale of the day was previously sighted. Unfortunately, these things can and do happen, however, we gave our guests our customary complimentary tickets in the hope next time they join us we are able to have an encounter. Another great reminder that every experience with these whales is a 2 way exchange. It is by no means our right to see and enjoy them every day and this fact should always be respected.

Test & Pictures: Mac

Departures: Classic - 0900 & 1300 O’Clock