Category: whale diaries

After a long scout on our afternoon tour today we were rewarded with a close-up sperm whale sighting. The whale lifted its fluke right next to our boat as he went down for a deeper dive. After a quick check with our sperm whale ID chart it turns out that this was indeed the very first sperm whale identified in the summer 2014 – BF001, nicknamed “Smaug”. Good to see he’s still around! 
Marie (Tour Guide)
#lakitours #boattour #whalewatching #whales #spermwhale #cachalot#pottwal #Iceland #Westiceland #nature #wildlife #ocean #May #fluke#identification

Two Láki trips were going out from Ólafsvík today at 9am and 1pm, both of them very successful. On our morning tour we spotted a group of white-beaked dolphins early in the tour, then headed further out to watch several groups of orcas. We could even see two spy hops! Our afternoon tour had three different species – orcas, one sperm whale, and one Minke whale. The sperm whale lifted the fluke next to our boat and even the Minke whale was very approachable. Tomorrow we are only running one tour at 1pm.
Marie (Tour Guide)
#lakitours #boattour #whalewatching #orcas #killerwhales #blackfish #orca#killerwhale #Iceland #Westiceland #dolphins #whitebeakeddolphins#whales #spermwhale #pottwal #cachalot #Minkewhale #Zwergwal #nature#wildlife #ocean #sunshine #landscape #birds #birdlife #puffins #gannets#terns #May

What a day! We started our afternoon tour with an early sighting of a small group of white-beaked dolphins, just a few minutes out of the harbour. As the dolphins were not up for a close approach, we left them quickly after we had spotted them, to carry on in search of the orcas. Well, we certainly got what we were hoping for, and much more! We spotted a group of 12 orcas, consisting of 3 core groups, that was extremely playful. Days like this that are known to us as “spy hop days”, where numerous spy hops are happening during the encounter, usually only happen once per year. As if this was not special enough, we got to see one of the juveniles’ teeth as it was splashing water and showing it’s tongue coming up for a spy hop as well. Incredible!
Marie (Tour Guide)
#lakitours #boattour #whalewatching #orcas #killerwhales #blackfish #orca#killerwhale #dolphins #whitebeakeddolphins #wildlife #nature #ocean#May #Iceland #Westiceland #spyhop #orcateeth

If you come on a trip with Láki Tours this summer you might just be lucky and experience what we experienced today – a trip where we had the pleasure to watch three different species. We started off with a playful group of white-beaked dolphins not far from the harbor, that leaped out of the water and approached the boat closely. As we came past the tip of the peninsula we spotted a group of orcas travelling slowly in the sunshine and super calm waters, and we could follow their movements below the water surface. To top it all off, we decided to take a little detour to the deeper waters, and there we found two sperm whales lifting their flukes high out of the water for us. As if this was not enough yet, we came across yet another group of orcas on our way home. This trip really surpassed the wishful thinking of many of our passengers!
Marie (Tour Guide)
#lakitours #boattour #whalewatching #orcas #killerwhales #blackfish #orca#killerwhale #Iceland #Westiceland #whales #spermwhale #pottwal#cachalot #dolphins #whitebeakeddolphins #cetaceans #birds #birdlife#puffins #terns #wildlife #nature #ocean #sunshine #landscape #May

We were lucky enough to get a close look at two very charismatic kinds of toothed whales today – the orca and the sperm whale. We started out in the Northwest of Breidafjördur by spotting at least 6 sperm whales in the area, two of which we got to see up close while they were lifting up their flukes. As we came back closer to the peninsula, we spotted a group of 6 orcas travelling very spread out towards the East. There are still lots of puffins out there and we are hoping for more fun on the water tomorrow.
Marie (Tour Guide)
#lakitours #boattour #whalewatching #orcas #killerwhales #blackfish #orca#killerwhale #whales #spermwhale #cachalot #pottwal #birdlife #birds#puffins #glacier #landscape #wildlife #nature #ocean #May

Today we, once again, made it all the way out to the tip of the peninsula, and there we spotted a group of 5 orcas riding the waves as the wind had picked up a bit. They were coming high out of the water and approaching the boat closely on two occasions. As we scouted the area we also came across three small groups of white-beaked dolphins, and the last group on the way home we finally also got to see up close. Only a few spots are left on our tour tomorrow, so reserve with us if you want to go out on the boat.
Marie (Tour Guide)
#lakitours #boattour #whalewatching #orcas #killerwhales #blackfish #orca#killerwhale #dolphins #whitebeakeddolphins #Iceland #Westiceland#nature #ocean #sunshine #waves #landscape #May #birdlife #birds#puffins #wildlife

We had an absolutely gorgeous tour in the afternoon as we ventured out past the tip of the peninsula. There we spotted two sperm whales, and one of them would lift up its fluke for us. As we came back closer to shore we finally also spotted a group of orcas in front of the glacier, which was a sight to behold. We are hoping for more of this on our next trips as the weather seems to hold at the moment! 
Marie (Tour Guide)
#lakitours #boattour #whalewatching #orcas #killerwhales #blackfish #orca#killerwhale #Iceland #Westiceland #whales #spermwhale #cachalot#pottwal #glacier #sunshine #landscape #nature #widlife #ocean #May

We had a gorgeous tour today in calm seas and with lots of sunshine and orcas! There were several groups in the area, and they were very spread out, travelling slowly. As we paralleled the first group of orcas, suddenly one of the individuals breached next to the boat! We could watch some of them logging on the surface, and especially the youngsters approached the stationary boat every now and then. We even got to see puffins right next to the orcas, and we hope to repeat it all tomorrow! 
Marie (Tour Guide)
#lakitours #boattour #whalewatching #orcas #killerwhales #blackfish #orca#killerwhale #Iceland #Westiceland #birds #birdlife #puffins #glacier#wildlife #nature #ocean #sunshine #landscape #May

We had one whale watching tour today at 3pm, and spotted a small group of white-beaked dolphins at the beginning of the trip. There were 4 or 5 individuals in the group, and they were travelling and foraging in the area. We then did a long scout out towards the tip of the peninsula and into the deeper waters of Breidafjördur, but, unfortunately, did not see any other cetaceans. However, it was a beautiful sunshine cruise with lots of birds to look at – including puffins, gannets, and Arctic terns!
Marie (Tour Guide) 
#lakitours #boattour #whalewatching #dolphins #whitebeakeddolphins#nature #wildlife #ocean #sunshine #landscape #Iceland #Westiceland#birdlife #birds #gannet #puffin