Author: laki

We had two great trips out of Hólmavík today with a lot of whales in the fjord, not far out. We could see many blows from whales around us and got to see some surface activity on both tours. In the morning while looking at one whale, suddenly we saw big splashes from two whales. We got to see one breach and then a whale lob-tailing over and over very close to the boat. On the afternoon tour we saw all kinds of surface behaviour from one whale, which demonstrated breaching, pec-slaps, lob-tails and a tail breach! Judith (Tour guide)

We had two trips out of Ólafsvík today, and, whereas we did not see any cetaceans on the afternoon trip, we spotted three different species on the morning tour. Past the tip of the peninsula, we came across a pod of pilot whales, accompanied by some white-beaked dolphins that were acrobatically leaping out of the water. Later into the tour, we spotted two more small groups of white-beaked dolphins, and got a close look at a Minke whale. Marie (Spotter)

We had two really great tours out of Ólafsvík today! On our morning tour, we first had a hard time getting a good look at the sperm whales in the area, but got to see two flukes going down at a distance. Some passengers also saw a Minke whale surface twice. However, this trip ended with the great delight of a killer whale sighting as we were coming back East. Our afternoon tour then had the killer whales first, before moving on to see a Minke whale very close to the boat, and a sperm whale fluke going down further away. Marie (Spotter)

Out in the beautiful calm of Steingrímsfjörður today we got to see a number of humpback whales on both tours. We got some very nice looks also at white-beaked dolphins on both tours with a big highlight being a dolphin that repeatedly jumped high out of the water on the morning tour. This trip also got to briefly see a Minke whale also. We have a humpback in the fjord at the moment that has a very distinctive shaped tail. We got great looks at it in the afternoon. We are very happy to be seeing pufflings (this years fledged puffin chicks) on the fjord every day (see photo). They look completely different to adult puffins and this is very early for them to be on the water. Judith (Tour guide)

It was another exciting day on the water today in the Westfjords with new individual humpbacks sighted on each tour including one of our old favourites on the afternoon tour, ‘Example’. We also got great looks at a couple of northern bottlenose whales on the morning tour that were not taking long dives and came up quite close to the boat a few times. On the afternoon tour ‘Example’ was a highlight, giving us some great close looks as it went down feeding, one of our favourite humpbacks this season so far. Judith (Tour guide)

At Snæfellsnes we had two very different trips today. On our morning tour, we spotted one sperm whale lifting up his fluke at a distance, then carried on to find both orcas and a humpback whale off the tip of the peninsula. This was a fun sighting as the orcas were socializing and tail clapping a lot. Our afternoon tour had a hard time getting a good look at any of the three sperm whales in the area, but managed to see one fluke going down at a distance. Marie (Spotter)

The humpbacks were out in force today in Hólmavík, the windy conditions didn’t bother them at all. It seems like we have plenty of food in the fjord right now and we watched a number of humpbacks deep feeding on both tours, coming up with big breaths after a feeding dive. We are seeing so many new individuals in the fjord this summer, it is so exciting to see new whales almost every day out there! We even had sunshine with the wind blowing away the clouds that have been hanging over us. Judith (Tour guide)

22/07/2018: We had two amazing trips at Snæfellsnes today. Our morning tour started out by watching a small group of harbour porpoises in very calm waters not far from the harbour. We then carried on to find sperm whales, humpback whales, and orcas, making this a four-species trip! Our afternoon tour got up close and personal with two humpback whales next to the boat, and then also spotted orcas later on! What a beautiful day on sea! Marie (Spotter)

The humpback whales in Steingrímsfjörður out of Hólmavík continue to be feeding in a similar place, very close to land. It is amazing to watch whales with Icelandic horses in the background! On the afternoon tour we also had a whale breaching in the distance as we approached the area they have been in.  Judith (Tour guide)

21/07/2018: We had two amazing tours today from Ólafsvík, each with sperm whale, humpback whale and killer whale sightings! On our morning tour, we started out by spotting a lot of sperm whales, then came across a small group of orcas, and finished by spotting a humpback whale in shallower waters. In the afternoon, we, once again, spotted several sperm whales to start with, then moved on to an area where we found both orca and humpback whale together. What a great day! Marie (Spotter)

In Hólmavík today the humpback whales were feeding very close to land at times. We watched the whales lunging, mouth open through fish, close to the land. It is good to see the whales getting food as this is the reason they come here to Iceland as this is one of the many feeding grounds for humpback whales across the north Atlantic. On the afternoon we also got to see a little surface activity from a whale slapping its tail repeatedly on the water. Judith (Tour guide)

It was a calm but very wet day in the Westfjords today. Our morning whale watched braved the weather and got to see a Minke whale very close just out of the harbour. After this we got a brief glimpse at what we believe were northern bottlenose whales in the fjord once again. Then we found the humpback whales and were incredibly lucky to see two lunge-feeding humpbacks close together with hundreds of puffins and other birds around them! The fjord felt very alive today. Judith (Tour guide)

Out of Ólafsvík we saw a sperm whale go down but it was far from the boat. Sadly we did not find any other cetaceans and so gave our passengers free tickets if they wanted to try again.

Despite the cold today, the whales and dolphins did their best to try and distract us today in Hólmavík. On our morning tour we started with a small group of white-beaked dolphins. Then we watched two humpback whales, both slowly travelling. One eventually lifted its flukes and we got to see ‘Vaf’ again! On the afternoon tour we again encountered dolphins, this time a much larger group. We spent some time with the dolphins as they were very sociable with each other, lots of leaps out of the water, and with the boat, riding the bow wave. It was so nice to see this again in our fjord. We then watched Vaf, the humpback whale again, and got some nice looks. We finished once again with a quick look at the dolphins, travelling fast through the fjord. Judith (Tour guide)

We had two tours out of Ólafsvík, and especially our morning tour took place in incredibly calm sea conditions! On this tour, we could see several Minke whales from far away already, then came across a small group of white-beaked dolphins, that were unexpectedly leaping out of the water at the start of the sighting. As we came further South again, we spotted the pilot whales that were travelling and milling in a tight group, with one calf huddled up close to its mum (see pictures). Our afternoon tour went out to the same place, but now instead we found sperm whales spread out in the area. Another reminder how quickly conditions change in the ocean! Marie (Spotter)

Our tours today out of Ólafsvík had the pleasure of spending time with the hundreds of pilot whales that sometimes come into the fjord in the summer. On top of that there were also leaping white-beaked dolphins on the edge of the pilot whale group, something we see quite often when we find pilot whales in the summer. We also found a sperm whale on each tour and a Minke whale also on the afternoon trip!

Out of Hólmavík today we saw a number of humpback whales on both tours. They were mostly just slowly travelling today, not taking long dives and giving us some great, close looks. One of our favourites from last summer Vaf was back in the fjord this morning. Judith (Tour guide)

Out of Hólmavík today we had a tour in sunshine! What a welcome relief. We found a humpback whale very early in the trip, and then two more but they were just travelling slowly. We also saw a Minke whale. All of a sudden the whales got a bit more active and one breached in front of us. Then we saw a group of three humpbacks together and got some nice close looks at them. Judith (Tour guide)

Out in Snæfellsnes the sperm whales are still around. On the morning tour we saw two sleepy sperm whales and two that lifted their tails as they took a dive. On the afternoon tour we again spent time with sperm whales and also got to see a couple of Minke whales as well.