The sea conditions today were very flat, there was a minor wind that increased into the afternoon, however, it had an inconsistent direction. The cloud cover was overcast.

Our morning Classic tour first encountered a Minke Whale by Svalbarðseyri, however, this animal was not found on the Rib tour shortly after. Many Harbour Porpoises were seen throughout the day, helped greatly by the flat water surface allowing us to see any animal coming up to breathe. A large group of at least 20 individuals was found on our Rib tour around Hjalteyri and these porpoises were feeding all around our boat. The Porpoises were seen approaching us and swimming below; with our engine off this was an amazing encounter with these animals which you can rarely see and hear in such detail. A Humpback Whale was then found a little further north from this, roughly in line with Rauðavik. This was our individual ‘Camel’ and it was actively feeding on fish shown to be around 10 meters deep. We observed frequent single-breath flukes, what I have coined the ´One and done´, and surface straining behaviours each time the whale was surfacing. This confirmed the feeding activity and gave reason for some of the movement patterns we saw from this whale.

Text & Photos: Mac

Departures: Classic - 0900 & 1400 O’Clock. Express - 1000 O’Clock