Baby minke whale and her mum spotted during a whale watching trip. 5th August 2019

A minke whale with her young calf, and also dolphins, were spotted during a whale watching trip in Iceland.

by Lucky Byfleet

Awesome! We found a minke whale with its calf as well as dolphins and so many guillemots, kittiwakes, fulmars, gannets and cormorants and the mountains around us were stunning and snow-capped. 

It was a sunny but windy day here in Reykjavik when we set out on the yacht Amelia Rose to look for whales in the bay. We set out from the harbour, surrounded by snow-covered mountains, and in amongst the islands next to the city shoreline. The islands had plenty of birds hanging around them, a good sign that there was a lot of fish in the area and we continued out in high expectation of a wonderful day. 

When we look for cetaceans we lookout for several things, firstly we look for sea birds, either in quantity or actively diving for fish. We also look out for dorsal fins, all the marine mammals we commonly see have them, we love whales, dolphins and porpoises, and very rarely, whenever we do we love the sharks we see. It’s a real treat to find them. A blow as they breath out is also a dead give-away that there’s a whale nearby, as whales are mammals, so they breathe air and are warm-blooded. Fish don’t make blows! 

We are very practised at looking for them, but sometimes a wave breaking in a weird way can look like a whale with a blow. Or sometimes a duck in the distance can be mistaken for a fin. But we would far rather our lovely customers point our a hundred ducks than miss one whale! For more information on how we search for whales and dolphins and learn how to be a pro-cetacean spotter yourself have a look at our guide here.

Today we went out to an area we know to be extremely rich in fish, and a prime hunting ground for hungry whales. Suddenly we saw a fin…We found a minke, it was gorgeous, and only a second later a tiny minke surfaced next to it! It was a mother and calf! They weren’t fussed by us, and carried on feeding, popping up for a minute to breath and then diving back down for another 10minutes.

The mother remaining relaxed and continuing to feed is extremely important to us, the welfare of our ocean mammals has to be our top priority and we always make sure we are responsible around them, no fast turns or getting too close. By remaining predictable and calm these intelligent, curious giants know to trust us and so chose to approach us. The minke calf would still be drinking milk from its mother so we really didn’t want to interrupt that, as the calf must put on a huge amount of weight to survive the winter.

What a totally amazing day on the waters of Faxa bay. We stayed as long as we could, however eventually we had to turn around and head back into Reykjavik harbour as our time was up. It was such a treat to show our customers this amazing, gentle giant with its calf and we hope what they learnt will help them to respect our oceans throughout their lives. 

 People also come here to see the bewitching northern lights, and we take people out to see them, again on our lovely super yacht Amelia Rose. If you book a whale watching tour with us you can get a Northern lights trip for 50% off! 

Sea Trips Reykjavik sail every day from Reykjavík Old Harbour, Iceland. Our yacht Amelia Rose was built as a superyacht in 2003 and as such is extremely comfortable and stable. However the seas often change here, and people are affected differently by the movement of the oceans. As such we have seasickness tablets available for free at the bar. We also have warm blankets and ponchos around the yacht for your comfort, though the inside of the ship is extremely warm and snug. 

If you have any more questions about our ships or the trip please contact us or have a look through our FAQs.