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. We encountered a quite big minke whale 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. 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. It travelled south all the way to Svalbarðseyri and then decided to go back direction north.
This humpback was not easy to keep up with, as it was 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…

Unfortunately our midnight classic and midnight rib tours thoroughly searched the fjord but could not spot any cetaceans. But we will com back tomorrow to try and find the again.

Text and images: Gisela & Tena

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