Thursday, 11 July 2019

Another day going out from Dalvik instead of Akureyri for us! As the whales have moved rather far North these days, we were taking passengers by bus to the lovely village of Dalvik and started our whale watching tours there to get a head start and spare some sailing time. Not only did we get to see humpback whales on our tours today but I think the crews favorite were the awesome white-beaked dolphins! We do not often see them very deep in the Fjord so this was also an “extra” on our tours now that we departed from Dalvik and went North where the chance to see them is much higher! Nice weather, nice humpbacks and great white-beaked dolphins today!

Text and photos by Hanna Michel

Wednesday, 10 July 2019

BREEEEEEACH! What a fantastic day! Not only were we blessed with some beautiful weather, the sun was shining, there was hardly any wind and the sea almost flat, we got to see a lot of amazing animals. On our morning tours 4 humpback whales were spotted 2 of which were travelling together which was just lovely to watch. Our afternoon tours witnessed something quite wonderful, a few humpbacks popped up throughout the tour and then a magical pod of white-beaked dolphins. Suddenly, a whale began breaching (jumping out of the water) which was just incredible!! Not only did it do it once but multiple times, it then rolled over and began pectoral slapping (hitting its long pectoral flippers against the water). This behavior is very rare to see and always an awe inspiring sight. This whale continued to jump, then slap for at least the next 30 minutes! Our later tours got to enjoy some more humpbacks and even a few dolphins here and there. Another exceptional day in Eyjafjörður.

Pictures and text by Tess Hudson

Tuesday, 9 July 2019

Today we were again departing from Dalvik, but again, it was totally worthy this extra bus ride. On all of our tours we enjoyed amazing weather and of course whales in beautiful scenery. Mouth of fjord was busy with feeding animals: birds, humpback whales and even white-beaked dolphins. In average we saw 4 humpback whales each tour and a small pod of dolphins. Humpbacks were going for deep dives, lifting high tails and coming back with big blows. It was sometimes bit tricky to keep up with them but all that waiting and searching was rewarded. One of the whales seen today was ”Dark Knight”, it’s good to have old friend back again.

Departures today: CLASSIC: 9, 13 & 17 EXPRESS: 10, 14, 16 & 21

Text by Ewa Malinowska and pictures by Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan

Monday, 8 July 2019

What a beautiful day with cloudy mountains over the fjord. Today we got to sail further up north, past the island of Hrisey almost to the mouth of the fjord. On our way we saw lots of seabirds : arctic terns, kittiwakes, guillemots, northern fulmars and….. PUFFINS! We don’t get to see puffins in Eyjafjordur very often, so this was an exciting moment for us! We also found a humpback whale that was resting at the surface allowing us to get observe the beautiful animal closely. A small pod of white beaked dolphins joined us as well and were circ ling around us for a while. A lovely day to sail the fjord!

Departures today: CLASSIC: 9, 13, 17 & 20:30 EXPRESS: 10, 16 & 21

Text by Viivi Poyhonen and pictures by Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan

Sunday, 7 July 2019

Many cruise ships, a lot of people and many boats were out and about today, eager to spot cetaceans. The wind had picked up a bit and it was raining here and there, but nothing that we could not handle. Sailing was still fun and plenty of harbor porpoises were around, likely hunting for fish. These cuties were sometimes a bit hard to see in the choppy waters, nevertheless we got good views of them. Of course we were also on the look out for larger cetaceans and strangely could not find them today. Therefore, we offered all our passengers complimentary tickets to try again for free either in Akureyri or Reykjavik. Maybe the food has moved a bit or is better at some other parts of North Iceland, we simply do not know. It changed very quickly compared to June and just like that it can changed back. In the early afternoon the wind had calmed down significantly and enabled us to go further out and there they were our beloved humpback whales. We saw at least three different individuals. A very nice ending to a not so easy day.

Departures today: CLASSIC: 9, 13, 17 & 20:30 EXPRESS: 10

Text by Babsi Neubarth, pictures by Tess Hudson

Saturday, 6 July 2019

Beautiful and sunny days in Iceland are scarce but today we had one of those and it couldn´t have been better. Mirror-flat seas and excellent conditions for sailing were our basis to start a wonderful experience. We explored Eyjafjordur and we were able to track a very curious and nice minke whale. This animal was extremely approachable and we could follow it for a while. Apart from the minke whale, lots of birds were present in the fjord and swans were in big numbers as well as geese with little goslings which made our passengers leave the boat with a huge smile. Unfortunately, we were less lucky on our afternoon tour and did not see any whales. Therefore, we handed out complimentary tickets to our passengers so they can come join another one of our tours for free which will hopefully be more successful. In the evening, the wind was picking up more and more creating some big waves. Due to the deteriorating sea conditions, our 5 PM tour turned back to the harbour after one hour of sailing and we offered passengers a complimentary ticket or a refund. Therefore, the 8:30 PM tour was cancelled.

Departures today: Classic: 9:00, 13:00 & 17:00 Express: 10:00 & 14:00

Text and pictures from Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan

Friday, 5 July 2019

Today whales were in a playful mood, but it was 'hide and seek’ they were playing. We accepted that challenge and after long search we found them. In the morning tour we sailed almost till the mouth of the fjord till we found a humpback whale. Despite presence of 3 boat this whale was so relaxed that we had impression that it is sleeping, logging on the surface or sun-bathing but finally we got to see it’s tail. Later this day we were again searching far in the fjord without big success ( but watching harbour porpoises) till on the way back we found whales, not only a humpback whale but also a minke whale.

Departures today: Classic: 9:00, 13:00 & 17:00 Express: 10:00 & 16:00

Text by Ewa Malinowska, photos Rodrigo Martinez

Thursday, 4 July 2019

Today felt rather like a day to stay at home with a hot chocolate or a cup of tea - it was windy, rainy and just not really nice outside. Still some brave passengers joined us on our tours today and got to see a humpback whale feeding and traveling close to the island called Hrisey in the fjord. Similar to the last few days we had to go further North than most of the time in June so it takes us longer at the moment to get to see the animals that we are looking for. The number of whales still seems to be rather low as well but that can also change again any day!

Departures today: Classic: 13:00, 17:00 & 20:30 Express: 10:00, 14:00 & 21:00

Text by Hanna Michel
Photos by Ewa & Rodrigo

Wednesday, 3 July 2019

The golden rule when trying to spot wildlife is trying to be patient. And lately, we have had to be so. Whale watching is not always easy, it can sometimes be very tricky. Whales have been appearing a long drive away from Akureyri, and certainly not very interested in boats, making our job much more difficult. But with patience, perseverance and positive attitude it has been working out quite well. We have seen a few tails of different whales, some of them very close from our boat.

Departures today: Classic: 9:00, 13:00 & 17:00 Express: 10:00 & 16:00

Text by Albert Camara and pictures by Rodrigo Martiniano

Tuesday, 2 July 2019

Sunny and windy weather expected us on all our tours today. Still, it was nice to enjoy the beautiful surroundings under a blue sky. As last night had already indicated, we had to sail further North than we were used to throughout July. At the height of the village of Hauganes we encountered our beloved humpback whale Depill and one minke whale. It had been quite a while since we have last seen a minke whale. Hence, we were very happy to see it. Whales are currently not as numerous as they used to be during the last couple of weeks. Still, we had a nice time out and about the island fjord.

Departures today: CLASSIC 9, 13, 17 & 20:30, EXPRESS 10, 12 & 21

Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth

Monday, 1 July 2019

Hide and seek with humpback whales! Today we got to sail at high speed in the windy fjord as we were looking for our whale friends who had moved further up north. We found a couple of humpback whales and had to use all of our senses to keep up with them. They were moving around a lot and sometimes we couldn’t see them behind the waves but only hear their blow. And then, out of nowhere, a whale would pop up just in front of us! One whale even performed some tail slapping for us, a behaviour we don’t get to witness every day !They definitely kept surprising us over and over again. We were also accompanied by many sea birds such as northern fulmars, arctic terns and guillemots. We even saw glimpses of harbour porpoises on the way. A very interesting day full of surprises!

Today’s departures CLASSIC 9, 13, 17 & 20:30 EXPRESS 12, 14 & 21

Text by Viivi

Sunday, 30 June 2019

Breaching, breaching, breaching! The humpbacks whales were quite active today, we got to whales breaching on several tours and also some tail-lobbing! “Khaleesi” and “Depill” were among those whales encountered today, close to the abandoned herring factory of Hjaltery. There are not as many humpbacks around as a week ago or so but a handful of them are still around. Some others seem to have traveled a bit further North in the fjord. They were not always making it very easy today but with a little but of patience we were rewarded with some of their special acrobatic behaviours!

Departures today: Classic: 09:00, 13:00, 17:00 & 20:30, Express: 10:00, 12:00 & 21:00

Text by Hanna Michel, photos by Rodrigo Martinez

Saturday, 29 June 2019

A busy day with many passengers, tours and luckily also humpback whales awaited us in the fjord. We went out extra early under a cloudy, but dry sky. There was a little bit of wind to be felt on our faces and some white caps made the spotting slightly difficult. Nevertheless, we managed to find 5 to 6 humpback whales and a few harbour porpoises throughout the tour. They were doing their favorite thing, feeding on the rich plankton and small schooling fish stocks. Khaleesi and Victoria were the two individuals we recognized instantly. On some other whales we could see signs of entanglement in abandoned fishing gear. Nothing that is uncommon nowadays unfortunately. Hence, if you ever find abandoned fishing gear on your local beach make sure to pick it up and dispose it responsibly. A third whale delighted our RIB boat passengers with breaches and head slaps, a stunning thing to witness. We definitely had a good time today.

Departures today: CLASSIC: 8, 9, 12, 13, 17 & 20:30 EXPRESS: 10 & 12

Text and pictures by Babsi Neubarth

Friday, 28 June 2019

Our humpback whales were a little bit more spread out today than the previous days, with some of them having come much further South as well, just 20 min away from Akureyri. On one of our tours we even got to see two whales jumping out of the water several times! But there were plenty of whales around on every tour today. Of course “Moonshine” was one of them, one of our favourites. And also “Victoria”, a humpback whale seen first in 2016 in this fjord, was spotted today for the first time this year! So exciting to see individuals come back here!

Departures today: Classic: 09:00, 13:00, 17:00 & 20:30 Express: 10:00 & 12:00

Text and photos by Hanna Michel

Thursday, 27 June 2019

Today was the perfect day to enjoy the summer temperatures while going out and watching whales! It is nice not to have to be bundled up when onboard like in the winter time. Our humpback whales were still all over the place today, popping up here and there and sometimes surfacing just meters away from the boat! We have also been seeing more and more new individuals over the last few days that we have not seen before in the fjord. Great to see them all come in here at the moment and soon they will get a name and be added to our humpback whale catalog, just like “Moonshine”, “Nebula”, “Khaleesi” and all the others we are seeing here at the moment.

Departures today: Classic: 09:00, 13:00, 17:00 & 20:30 Express: 10:00, 12:00 & 14:00

Text and photos by Hanna Michel

Wednesday, 26 June 2019

Once again, and like these previous days, today we have found many Humpback whales at about 45 minutes north from Akureyri, right before Hjalteyri, in one of the deepest parts of the fjord (about 100 meters deep). It looks like there is plenty of fish in this area since our whales have been hanging around there during the whole day. We have encountered 15+ whales in this area, popping up around our boats like pop-corns. They made our job very easy, coming up to the surface very close from us for the delight of our guests.

Departures today: Classic at 9h, 13h, 17h and 20:30h; Express at 10h and 12h

Text and pictures by Albert Camara

Tuesday, 25 June 2019

It was windy but warm day, while tourist were still wearing jackets and scarfs, local kids were playing in the water next to our office. Wind was blowing from the South, so most of the time we were just pushed through the fjord, and only at the way back we were exposed. Similar to previous days humpback whales were waiting for us around 40 min (or 20 min by rib) away from Akureyri. Once we found first whale we started to see them all around. There were definitely more than 10 humpback whales surrounding our boat. Animals were coming up in all directions so pointing them out was a hard job. We saw their tails up in the air, dark bodies and white flippers shining through the water. Many of them were swimming just few meters away from our boats. Just another incredible day in the North Iceland.

Text and photos by Ewa Malinowska

Departures today: Classic: 09:00, 13:00, 17:00, 20:30 Express: 10:00, 12:00, 14:00

Monday, 24 June 2019

Compared to the last few days, the sea conditions were very smooth today and there was almost no wind. However, there were still 10+ humpback whales around in the same area as yesterday. We hardly had to move the ship, we just slowly floated around while whales were popping up here and there around us. Sometimes they surfaced just meters away from us! Awesome day again with a few new individuals that are waiting for names now.

Departures today: Classic: 09:00, 13:00, 17:00, 21:00 Express: 10:00, 12:00

Text and photos by Hanna Michel

Sunday, 23 June 2019

Today we woke up with a bright sun and mirror seas. It is not normal to have such flat seas and such a good visibility. It has been a pleasure to sail under this weather conditions, since it made our job even more pleasant and easier than usually. In all of our tours we have seen plenty of whales, including some of our regular visitors like Depill and Moonshine. At some point we did not know where to focus! We have also seen a couple of Minke whales. Who says there is no summer in Iceland?

Text and pictures by Albert Camara

Saturday, 22 June 2019

Whaaaaales eeeeeverywhere - that is the best summary for today’s tours. It took us about 45 min to get to the area where our humpback whales spent most of the time today, and then we were quickly surrounded by them. In the morning we did not even move the ship for about half an hour because there were humpbacks popping up everywhere around us. In the afternoon we slowly went through a large area and were able to watch at least 10 different individuals slowly passing by and showing us their beautiful flukes. The later tours today were not as calm as the morning tour due to the wind picking up, but the sailing was still pretty smooth. We even saw a couple of minke whales during the day too.

Tours today: Classic: 09:00, 13:00 & 17:00 Express: 10:00, 12:00 & 16:00

Text and photos by Hanna Michel