Friday, August 24, 2007

JUMPING HUMPBACK IN THE STORM

Sometimes fate seems to play a role in our visitors lives, and last tuesday was a good example.  Unexpectedly a storm hit the bay around noon, and boats had to return from their trips earlier due to it, but the passengers on the 13:15 tour insisted on wanting to go out anyway, and were in for a great surprise! The captain Aðalsteinn Ólafsson ordered everyone to stay on top of the captains room, in order not to get as wet as they would have considering the rough sea, and hit the "throttle" and headed towards where humpbacks had last been spotted.

Monday, August 20, 2007

SEI WHALES + HUMPBACKS + MINKES + DOLPHINS

Today has been a very good day for whale watching and four species of whales have been spotted today in beautiful weather! We even spotted sei whales, which are seldom seen in Skjálfandi Bay. Sei whale is a part of the baleen whale family and is in fact the third largest rorqual after the blue whale and fin whales.

Friday, August 17, 2007

STORM OVER – WHALE WATCHING CONTINUES

After having to cancel our tours for two days due to bad weather, we were finally able to sail out to Skjalfandi Bay today with many whale watchers in the search of whales. Friendly minke whales, many harbour porpoises and finally a breaching humpback greeted our passengers today, who had many been waiting patiently after good weather.

Monday, August 6, 2007

FRIENDLY HUMPBACK IN THE BAY

The last couple of days the weather has been making things a little wet and windy for our passenger’s and crew, as we had to cancel few of our trips but then going out with full boats on Thursday when the weather got a little bit better and having the pleasure of following a Humpback trough out the day.

Friday, July 20, 2007

MORE GREAT NEWS FROM THE BAY

Monday, July 16, 2007

HUMPBACKS + DOLPHINS

2 humpbacks were spotted yesterday by our crews on our boats SYLVIA and FALDUR among with several playful groups of dolphins.  Both the humpbacks and the dolphins were jumping and splashing in front of our boats.

Friday, July 13, 2007

FLATEY & FLATEYJARDALUR

Flatey the paradise island and Flateyjardalur welcomed us with its calm sea yesterday, after sailing through the waves across Skjálfandi bay on Faldur and the company’s Zodiac.  It is a known fact that the weather in Flatey is usually much calmer than on the bay, and even than on the mainland, making the island the perfect place to be!  Our mission to Flateyjardalur was to pick up a group of Icelandic mountaineers and sail them on Faldur to Flatey, for a guided tour around the island, looking at birdlife and abandoned buildings.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Húsavík Whale Museum Turns 10!

Ten years ago – in 1997 – the Húsavík Whale Museum was established by Ásbjörn Björgvinsson along with many other individuals and companies in Húsavík, as well as by owners of Gentle Giants. The museum is a nonprofit educational information centre dedicated to the promotion of whales and whale watching and provides visitors with information about whales’ lives and their habitat around Iceland.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

070707 SYLVIA ARRIVES

  Today we received with a warm welcome the latest addition to our fleet, a beautiful streamlined oak boat built 1976 in Akureyri.  The boat was named Sylvia, after the manager’s daughter, Sylvía Dís Stefánsdóttir, who was present receiving the ship in Húsavík and the first one to secure the ropes to it’s new harbour, next to our boat Faldur.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

CURIOUS MINKE WHALE

On one of tours yesterday our passengers onboard Faldur were entertained by a curious minke whale. When we were close to the animal our captain killed the engine and the animal seemed to feel very comfortable with our presence and started swimming around the boat, rolling, going upside down and being curious about the people.