Friday, 31 July 2026

We departed from Akureyri with grey skies and the steady bit of rain. However the northern wind seems to have blown in a couple of animals in the fjord. After more than a week without any sightings of minke whales. We encountered a quite big one by Nunnuhólma, further than the aluminium factory, but very close to shore. The whale was most likely feeding because we had it in the surface changing direction, yet remaining in the same area. Probably having a munch on some sand eels. And due to the cold we even got to see the minke whale’s blow, quite a rare sight. And after sailing on a little loop around the eastern side of the fjord, next to Strýtan we found two very lovely puffins, the cutest ones. Our second morning rib departure however, while trying to spot the minke encountered a Humpback whale on the South of Hjalteyri.
The humpback was not easy to keep up with, as it was also moving a lot and changing direction over longer distances. Nevertheless, we managed to see it very good and even got some good pictures - not an easy task in today’s rough conditions! We also spotted a pod of cute harbour porpoises - they were surfing big waves just next to our boat! An amazing sight! And besides puffins, we were enjoying seeing common guillemots’ parents giving their chicks fishing lessons :) There were also northern fulmars (gliding above our heads in few moments!), Arctic terns, black guillemots, skua, gulls…

Text and images: Gisela & Tena

Tours of the day: Classic - 0900, 1000, 1300, 1400, 1700 & 2030 o’clock. Express - 1000, 1200, 2100 o´clock