Category: whale diaries westfjords

WHALE WATCHING WESTFJORDS
09/07/2017: We had two afternoon tours today out of Hólmavík in the fog, but with patches of sunshine. We did find humpback whales on both tours, however they were staying down quite a long time and were a little difficult to see in the fog and wind. However, there were a number of different whales out in the fjord. We hope they are a little more active tomorrow, however this is nature, so of course they do as they please. Judith (Tour guide)
#lakitours #humpbacks #humpbackwhale #humpbackwhales #holmavik#westfjords #westiceland #westfjordsiceland #iceland #icelandnature#whales #nature #whalewatching

WHALE WATCHING WESTFJORDS
08/07/2017: Well, sometimes you just happen to be in the right place at the right time, and we were on our 2pm tour today when a well known humpback we have been seeing here, decided to get active. Our small number of passengers got to witness more than 20 breaches from this whale, as well as some lob-tails, tail breaches and pec-slaps. You only need one whale sometimes to make an awesome trip, but we did see two other whales on this tour as well.
Both of our other two tours also got to see humpback whales. On the morning tour we also saw some surface activity from a humpback, with a few lob-tails and tail throws. 
On the 16.30 trip we saw a feeding frenzy of birds with many, many puffins and a Minke whale, which surfaced right next to the boat. We also saw two humpback whales on this tour as well, so we continue with 100% humpback sightings here in Hólmavík. Judith (Tour guide)

#humpback #humpbackwhale #humpbackwhales #humpbackbreach#breach #iceland #icelandnature #nature #whales #whalewatching#minkewhale #puffins #holmavik #lakitours #westiceland #westfjords#iceland #westfjordsiceland

WHALE WATCHING WESTFJORDS
07/07/2017: We had three very successful tours from our Westfjords whale watch today, with three species seen during the day. On the morning tour we saw humpback whales, pilot whales and a Minke whale. When we found the pilot whales there was a humpback whale with them, rolling around a little.
On the early afternoon trip we found the pilot whales very close to Hólmavík and they were in a social mood. We got to see a lot of spy-hops, where they lift their heads out of the water. It is always fun to see their eyes out of the water, looking around. We also got to see five humpback whales, including three who were travelling together, an impressive sight.
On the last tour of the day we again saw the pilot whales in beautiful, glass calm conditions, and then we saw two humpback whales. One of them was jumping out of the water in the distance and it did one breach near us as we approached, but then sadly stopped this spectacular behaviour. You just have to be so lucky to be in the right place at the right time to see a breach! Judith (Tour guide)

#holmavik #westfjords #westiceland #westfjordsiceland #iceland#icelandnature #nature #whales #whalewatching #humpbacks#humpbackwhale #humpbackwhales #pilotwhales #blackfish #spyhop#minkehwhale #lakitours

WHALE WATCHING WESTFJORDS
06/07/2017: We did not have the best weather in west Iceland today, but we got out on the water for one afternoon tour today and were lucky as we found two humpbacks in lovely calm and sheltered waters in the inner part of the fjord. Both whales were coming up quite regularly and we got some great looks at them. We could see one whale, with a very white fluke, had some interesting scars on its back. These could have been made by a past entangement in fishing gear as the lines are very straight. 

If you want to see whales but are worried about getting sea sick, you should come out with us as we have such a sheltered fjord to watch whales in, even when the wind is blowing, we do not get big waves or any swell. So far we have 100% whale sightings here in Hólmavík and 0% sea sick people! Judith (Tour guide) 

#lakitours #holmavik #westfjords #westiceland #westfjordsiceland#iceland #icelandnature #nature #whalewatching #whales#humpbackwhale #humpbackwhales #humpback

WHALE WATCHING WESTFJORDS
05/07/2017: We had three tours with humpbacks today out of Hólmavík in the Westfjords and the morning tour also saw a group of spread-out pilot whales.
On the first two tours of the day we did find a number of humpbacks but they were staying down quite a long time and not lifting their tails very much. We stayed out a little longer on both tours to ensure that our passengers got to see at least a couple of nice whale tails. The morning tour got to see a little pilot whale tail as well as, eventually, a humpback fluke. 

The 16:30 tour happened to be the lucky ones today as we saw two larger humpback whales feeding not far below the surface. They were coming up a lot, sometimes filtering water out their mouths, and then going straight back down again for more. We also got to see three other humpbacks out in the fjord on this tour as well, but the feeding ones were the highlight. 
We are starting to get to know some of our regular humpbacks here, but on the 2pm tour we got to see three new whales we have not seen before in the fjord here. Judith (Tour guide) 

#lakitours #holmavik #westfjords #westiceland #westfjordsiceland#iceland #icelandnature #whales #whalewatching #humpbacks#humpbackwhales #humpbackwhale #pilotwhales #blackfish

WHALE WATCHING WESTFJORDS
04/07/2017: On our three tours today we got to see three species on two of them. On both the first and third trips we saw humpback, Minke and pilot whales. On the middle tour we saw both the humpbacks and pilot whales.
First thing this morning we had stunning conditions where the sea was like a mirror. We could see our first humpback whale before we even threw the lines off to leave the harbour!
On the middle tour the whales were a little harder for us and we stayed out a bit longer to ensure that everyone on the boat got to see some of the pilot whales and a couple of nice humpback flukes.
On the third tour we got to see one of the pilot whales belly up, slapping its long pectoral fins on the water, showing us how their got their full name, the long-finned pilot whale. 

We get to see puffins every day here on the whale watch, and today we saw a lot of puffins out on the water. They are an added bonus! Judith (Tour guide)

#lakitours #holmavik #westfjords #westiceland #westfjordsiceland#iceland #icelandnature #meetusdonteatus #whalewatching #whales#humpbacks #humpbackwhales #minkewhale #pilotwhales #blackfish#puffins #puffin #nature

WHALE WATCHING WESTFJORDS

03/07/2017: Once again our three tours out of Hólmavík were very successful. We had humpback whales on all three tours, so we keep our 100% success rate with seeing them here, and we also saw pilot whales on the morning trip.
The morning started very calm and almost sunny! This made the sightings of the pilot whales and humpbacks stunning to photograph.
On both the afternoon tours we saw three humpback whales feeding not far below the surface. At times we could see them come up filtering water out of their baleen as they surfaced and we got some incredibly close looks at them as we just drifted, not moving the boat, and they surfaced next to us after a feeding dive, often then going straight back down for more. It’s good to see them looking like they are getting lots to eat in our fjord, Steingrímsfjörður. Do come and join us at 9.30, 14 or 16.30. Judith (Tour guide)

#holmavik #westfjords #westiceland #westfjordsiceland #iceland#icelandnature #nature #humpback #humpbacks #humpbackwhales#whalewatching #whales #pilotwhales #blackfish #grindwal #lakitours

WHALE WATCHING WESTFJORDS

02/07/2017: Today we had three very different, but all successful whale watches out of Hólmavík. On the morning tour it started slow, with difficult humpbacks that were staying down a long time. But good things come to those who wait, and right at the end we had an incredible few minutes with the two most curious humpbacks we have yet seen here in Hólmavík (see video posted earlier).
The second tour also had a slow start and we had to drive all the way behind Grimsey Island before we found our first whale. It was a small humpback that when we first saw it was doing a little lunge feeding. It was surrounded by thousands of birds, mostly Arctic terns and many puffins. We then found another whale on the way home that gave us a great close look and a fluke.

On the third tour we saw three different humpbacks, all of which gave us great looks at their tails and were not taking long dives. One in particular was a new whale we had not seen here before, and it lifted its tail high out of the water and gave it a little swish on the way down! Judith (Tour guide)

#holmavik #lakitours #westfjords #westiceland #iceland#westfjordsiceland #whales #whalewatching #nature #icelandnature#humpbacks #humpbackwhale #humpbackwhales

WHALE WATCHING WESTFJORDS

01/07/2017: Well, you certainly have to have a bit of luck often when you choose to go whale watching and our morning passengers today in Hólmavík certainly had that. With only three of them we had one jump from a humpback for each of them! We saw three breaches and a spectacular tail throw from one humpback, as well as another humpback and a close Minke whale.
Both afternoon tours we got to see one humpback whale and a new treat for our new whale watching here, a very playful group of white-beaked dolphins. On both tours the dolphins were quite active, riding the bow wave of the boat and spectacularly leaping out of the water. So the afternoon passengers also got to see leaping animals too! On the last tour we also saw a lunging Minke whale in the distance, and the dolphins playing around a humpback whale. If you enjoy being close to nature and the only boat around whales, come whale watching with Láki Tours at either of our beautiful destinations. What a day! Judith (Tour guide)

#lákitours #lakitours #holmavik #westfjords #westiceland #iceland#icelandnature #westfjordsiceland #whalewatching #whales#humpbackwhales #humpbackwhale #humpbacks #breach #dolphins#whitebeakeddolphins #nature #minkewhale

WHALE WATCHING WESTFJORDS

30/06/2017: On our three calm tours from Hólmavík today we saw humpback whales, four in total over the day. On the first tour we also got to see a Minke whale briefly as it surfaced very close to us. We are getting to know some of the regular whales we are seeing here at the moment, and all the humpbacks we saw today were individuals we also saw yesterday.
Not only is this a great whale watching spot, there are also many birds to see. It is very usual for us to see many puffins, but today we also saw two red-necked phalaropes and a number of whooper swans, which were a beautiful sight as they flew over us. Judith (Tour guide)

#lakitours #holmavik #westfjords #iceland #westiceland#westfjordsiceland #whalewatching #birdwatching #swans #humpbacks#humpbackwhales #humpbackwhale #minkewhale #nature #whales#phalaropes #natureiceland