We got one trip out today in Hólmavík before the wind came in strong. Inside the sheltered part of the fjord we found a humpback slowly travelling along, looking for food. We got some nice looks at the whale which was not staying down too long, and then the wind picked up and we sailed for home before we got too soaked!
We had a sunny day across west Iceland in both Ólafsvík and Hólmavík today.
At Snæfellsnes we had one tour with three species of cetaceans today! The sea was extremely calm, and we spotted two Minke whales early on into the tour, and even got close up looks at both of them. As we ventured west, we spotted one male orca that was foraging and milling. We then travelled all the way to the deeper waters of Breidafjördur, to find two sperm whales that lifted up their flukes for us to marvel at. A great morning out on the ocean!
In the Westfjords we spent the tours with humpback whales that seemed very relaxed and chilled out. On both tours the whales were just slowly travelling, allowing us some very close looks, especially in the afternoon where one whale came to have a look at us, before it continued travelling just under the surface with another humpback by its side. On the morning tour one of these two whales did two pec-slaps, bringing its huge pec fin out of the water, before continuing slowly on its travels.
Whale Watching Ólafsvík:
On Snæfellsnes Peninsula today we had two trips out of Ólafsvík, and both of them were really successful both with orca and sperm whale sightings. On our morning trip, we started off by seeing the orcas travelling, then spotted a sperm whale, and came back to the orcas again. In the afternoon, we started by watching several sperm whales in the deeper waters, and made our way along the peninsula to finally also find the killer whales on this tour.
Whale Watching Hólmavík:
Up in the Westfjords on our two tours from Hólmavík we found a number of humpback whales. On both tours we got to see big, high flukes as they went down on feeding dives. One of the whales in the fjord today was a whale we saw in the fjord last summer and named IE due to the mark on the right side of the tail that looks like the letters IE. Can you see it?
Photos and text by Marie (Snæfellsnes) and Judith (Westfjords)
June 8th is considered World Ocean’s Day and the sperm whales and orcas gave us two great whale watching tours today. In the deep waters of the fjord there were plenty of sperm whales. We got great looks at the on both tours, especially the afternoon tour where one whale showed us his huge, wide tail twice.
In the morning it took us a while to find the orcas but when we did there was some social activity going on between two and we saw two spy-hops and some tail slaps. We also had great looks at a couple of very young ones.
In the afternoon the orcas were out in the deep water next to the sperm whales. Although very spread out at first they got together in a resting line for a short time, and we saw some going quickly, porpoising a little out of the water.
Happy World Oceans Day from everyone at Laki Tours!
Judith (Tour guide)
We had a wonderful day on the water today. Both our tours got to see both orcas and sperm whales. On the morning tour the orcas were travelling in a tight group to the east, coming up close together and giving us some fantastic looks close to the boat. We also got to see a sperm whale close as well out in the deep part of the fjord.
On the afternoon tour we saw a number of sperm whales and had one particularly interesting moment when a gull appeared to land on a sperm whale that had been lifting his head a little out of the water! The whale seemed to get spooked but this and took a shallow dive, so we left him to make sure we did not spook him. Not far from Ólafsvík we found the orcas feeding under a large flock of diving gannets. It was such an awesome sight to see the birds dive bombing into the water over and over with the orcas surfacing underneath, pushing the herring they were probably feeding on closer to the surface.
Our numbers are quiet at the moment and passengers got to see so many whales with lots of space on the boat. Come and join us soon!
Judith (Tour guide)
On both our tours today we went out to the eastern end of the deep water channel we have here in Breiðafjörður and came across a lone sperm whale out there feeding. On both tours we got to see this whale come up near the boat from a dive and watch him until he was ready to go back to the deep. Watching the tail come up high and slow is why we love having the sperm whales in our whale watching fjord at this time of year.
On both trips we also got to see plenty of puffins and the beautiful northern gannets were often hanging around the boat, allowing us close looks. With their beautiful blue eyes and yellow-ish heads, they are one of the most beautiful seabirds we see.
On the afternoon tour we also got to briefly see a group of white-beaked dolphins, however they looked like they were feeding and were not interested in the boat.
Judith (Tour guide)
On both our tours today we got to see the sperm whales out in the deep water. We had to go a little out to the west of the deep part of Breiðafjörður, but once out there we saw many sperm whale coming up around us. On both tours we got great looks at close whales, breathing many times at the surface before they dived. The sperm whales have to take quite a lot of breaths at the surface to re-oxygenate their blood and muscles before they can take a big breath and dive, holding their breath for well over thirty minutes as they look for food in the black depths of the fjord.
On the afternoon tour we had a little bonus also with two groups of white-beaked dolphins, one out in the deep and one closer to home.
Judith (Tour guide)
We are very pleased to report that the weather appears to have made a change for the better, which we hope will stay!
We managed to get out on two almost sunny tours today. In the morning we got a report there was a lot of herring in an area, so we headed there and found a male orca travelling to the west. He gave us some great looks as he was going in the same direction and we could track him.
On the afternoon tour we went out to the west as this is the direction the orca was travelling. We managed to get out into the deep water and there we found a male sperm whale which we got quite close to before he headed down on a feeding dive, lifting his tail high out of the water in the sunlight.
On both tours we saw many birds as out summer migrants are coming more and more to Iceland, with hundreds of Arctic terns and puffins around. Both these species come to Iceland for the summer to breed, the terns coming all the way from the southern hemisphere, giving them one of the longest migrations in the world. It is said that by the time an Arctic tern dies at around 20-25 years old, it has flown the equivalent of three times to the moon and back!
Judith (Tour guide)
We had a wonderful afternoon tour out on the fjord with calm seas, blue skies and a feeding frenzy of orcas, dolphins and many plunge diving northern gannets. Out at the tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula, one of our hot-spots for orcas, we found a group of orcas feeding with white-beaked dolphins! This is very unusual to see the two species feeding together. On top of the cetaceans were hundreds of northern gannets, the beautiful sea birds that plunge into the water from a great height to feed on the fish the whales are pushing up closer to the surface. We always look for feeding gannets on the fjord as sometimes there are orcas underneath and today was a classic example of this. In the calm waters we could turn off the engines on the boat and just drift with the whales and birds all around us.
On our way home, just a few minutes out of the harbour we found two Minke whales and a pod of more white-beaked dolphins that included some young calves. It was a stunning day on the water.
Judith (Tour guide)
We had two very different tours today out in Breiðafjörður. On the morning tour today we managed to get out to the west of the fjord and saw a number of sperm whales, including two close together. Then, a surprise out in the deep water, we found some orcas travelling close together in the swells. It is a little unusual to see the orcas out in the very deep water as usually they are much closer to land. We had a great last look at them as they surfaced near the boat. Then, an extra treat we saw a small group of white-beaked dolphins on our way home.
The wind had picked up in the afternoon and so we stayed in the shelter of the fjord and found a humpback whale that is well known in the north of Iceland. This whale has a lot of rake marks on its tail, which are the result of an unsuccessful orca attack. It is very unlikely this would have happened here around Iceland as the orcas we see are mostly eating herring and other fish, but somewhere on its long migration to the breeding grounds this whale has met orcas that will feed on whales. Luckily it survived this and it has left some incredible marks on the under-side of the tail. This is how we identify individual humpbacks and this one is very distinctive. It is known as ‘Tattoo’ when seen in Skalfandi Bay in the north of Iceland.
Judith (Tour guide)
