Author: stjori

Today we had two whale watching tours – one with, and one without orcas. On our morning tour we did not have to go far out of the fjord to spot several groups of orcas that were feeding and slowly travelling in the area. We saw lots of Northern gannets diving, and dropped the hydrophone to listen to the orca calls. Close to the island Melrakkaey we then observed a seal and two sea eagles that were chasing a gull. Our afternoon tour had no such luck, even though wecould still see very far in the calm waters and the sunshine. In the afternoon we scouted very far towards East, West, and North, and did not spot any fins at all – this just teaches us how fast things change in the ocean and reminds us of how fast and far orcas can travel (up to 120 km per day!). We finished this tour by looking at two sea eagles on the island Melrakkaey. Weather conditions for the next days are looking unfavorable, and we will assess the situation tomorrow morning to decide if we can go out or not. We will keep you updated!
Marie (Tour Guide) ​

We were running one full tour from Grundarfjörður at 2pm today, and once we had gone out of the fjord, we spotted a flock of Northern gannets dive-bombing into the water at a distance. When we came closer, we saw black fins underneath the birds, and soon were surrounded by a group of 10 orcas feeding on herring. Later on they started travelling, and we observed them in front of the snow-covered mountains of Snæfellsnes. So we had orcas on a sunny winter day in Iceland – we could not have asked for more! Please note: We are super busy here at Láki Tours, so if you would like to go out on a trip with us, make sure to reserve your spots in advance.

We had both orcas and sperm whales today – say what??!! That’s right, we never see sperm whales on our whale watching tours in the wintertime here at Snæfellsnes, but today we encountered no less than 5 sperm whales off the tip of the peninsula. We saw their blows in every direction, and the same was true for orca fins! After we had looked at quite a few sperm whale flukes going down, we headed towards several orca groups in front of the glacier. Some individuals would approach the boat and dive underneath while the boat was stationary. Especially some of the males would hang out next to the boat, slowly breathing and resting on the surface. We had a full boat and saw many happy passenger faces on our way home.
It looks like Snæfellsnes could soon be known as one of the rare spots in the world where you can see both orcas and sperm whales on the same tour/in the same area, and both in summer and wintertime! Amazing. So much we have yet to learn about the ocean giants roaming the waters of Breiðafjörður.
Marie (Tour Guide)