Puffin Watching Diary – So many puffins!
A lovely summers day taking people out on a puffin watching trip, departing from Reykjavik Old Harbour on our beloved yacht, Axel Rose. We took our lovely customers all around the fascinating islands that provide nesting grounds for the Atlantic Puffins every summer.
We are based in the city of the old town in Reykjavik, easy walking distance to everything! Today we took our smaller yacht out, which gets us really close into the islands where the puffins dig their burrows into the cliff sides. The weather was pleasant, and it is light almost all the time now, the short dark days of winter are behind us! Though we look forward to seeing the stunning Northern Lights again one day soon.
The first stop on the puffin watching tour was Akurey, often overlooked as it’s much smaller than the other more popular islands of Engey and Videy. We often visit it in the summer to look for the puffins and other sea birds who nest there, safe on its craggy shoreline. Sometimes we see seals over here too, their gorgeous big puppy-eyed heads sticking up above the water level, or them warming up, sunbathing on the rocks. This isn’t one of the biggest colonies, but it is always worth checking out multiple ones on different islands because you will never know what you will see!
The bay also is home to many cetaceans such as the harbour porpoise, white-beaked dolphins, or even whales. We see Minke whales sometimes, and we’ve even had humpbacks come all the way into the harbour, right up to where we keep our boats! If whales are what you are looking for then please consider our specific whale watching tours, we head right out into the open water to a feeding ground that we know they frequent!
The next stop on our puffin watching trip was Engey, the second largest island in the bay. A lighthouse, which is beautiful in its own right, is the only building on it and it makes for a beautiful focal point for photos. Some puffins have their burrows here, but not as many as the other islands so we continued on our trip.
Lundey was the next stop but it is better known by its English name – Puffin Island. It is very well known because, as its name suggests, it is home in the summer months to a huge colony of Atlantic Puffins, we have 60% of the world’s population here in Iceland and despite not being our national bird – that’s the gyrfalcon – it holds a special place in all of our hearts with its jolly colours and clumsy antics! Despite it being known for the puffins it is a haven for all sorts of sea birds. We stayed here a while and enjoyed the antics of this funny and adorable bird.
Such a lovely day out on the water in Axel Rose, with puffins everywhere and a great view of Reykjavik as we sailed back into Reykjavik harbor.
