Whale Watching in Iceland; today we found whales, dolphins, and porpoises!

Whale watching in Iceland on a luxury yacht from Reykjavik harbour. 

Success! A wonderful day whale watching in Iceland with Sea Trips Reykjavik, we found many minke whales, some white-beaked dolphins, and porpoises! As well as a lot of sea birds, such as gannets, black-legged kittiwakes, cormorants, fulmars, shearwaters, and black-backed gulls.

The day was a little over cast in the morning, before we left Reykjavik harbour on the gorgeous super yacht Amelia Rose. The seas were very calm and the visibility was great, made more so when the clouds overhead parted and so we had blue skies with fluffy white cartoon clouds. Iceland has to be one of the most is the most beautiful places to live.

The islands we passed were green and teaming with life, plenty of seabirds, and probably seals in the water around them, but we didn’t hang around to look today, there were even more seabirds only a mile or so out, a great indicator there might be whales which is what we really wanted to find.

Looking out for sea birds is the first thing we do when we are whale watching in Iceland. We look out for large quantities of them, or ones that are actively feeding. They feed on the same types of fish as our marine mammal friends, but as they fly high they can find them even better than us! It is a wonder seeing the northern gannets especially as they dive in such an impressive way.

Secondly we look for blows. Blows happen when a cetacean breaths out, their warm, wet breath makes a cloud of steam above them, which can reach over 10m if they are a blue whale, the biggest creature to have ever lived! Thirdly but by no means lastly we look for fins, we love everything with a fin, from sharks to fin whales. There many other ways that we find whales, why not have a look at this article for more information, or book a trip with us and our enthusiastic and professional guides will be delighted to tell you everything they know. 

Following the birds was a great plan and we were only about one mile of shore before we saw a couple of minke whales. We were of course excited by then, but as the trip continued we found more and more of them! They were coming up all around us, it was incredible, we were making full use of the 360 degree viewing platforms. Turning off the engines to remain calm and still in the water the minkes approached us unafraid, and kept feeding all around us. 

It was such an amazing day, we were delighted to show everyone these minke whales, and then, as a bonus we found a few white beaked dolphins on the way back home as well as a couple of porpoises. Much as it was lovely to see them they didn’t act in a way that showed playfulness and curiosity towards us on the boat, so we didn’t try to follow them.

It is always a delight to show people these incredible creatures. 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 Iceland tour with us you can get a Northern lights trip for 50% off!  

Sea Trips Reykjavik sail everyday out from Reykjavík Harbour, Iceland. Our yacht, Amelia Rose was built as a super yacht in 2003 and as such is ever so 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 very warm and snug.  

If you have any more questions about our ships or the trip please get in touch or read our FAQs.

If you are interested in learning more we recommend National Geographic.