Whale watching in Iceland blog 30Dec19

Wonderful whale-watching cruise in Iceland on a luxury yacht from Reykjavik harbour. 

Success! We found some very acrobatic white-beaked dolphins and glimpsed a harbour seal as well as loads of cormorants, fulmars, gulls, eiders and guillemots.

The day was a little over cast as we left Reykjavik harbour on Amelia rose, but the sea was relatively calm, and the yacht cut through the little swell there was easily. We headed out of the harbour area to the north, past the islands that are nesting grounds for north Atlantic puffins among many other sea birds in the summer months. Today we caught a glimpse of a seal near them, but it didn’t hang around so neither did we and we ventured out into the great bay, Faxafloi on the hunt for whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Despite it being cloudy the visibility was good and we searched a huge area for over two hours. All the signs were good as there were a lot of seabirds in the area, which is normally an indicator of there being plenty of fish in the area. We thought we spotted a blow and so we waited a little while longer in the area than normal in the hope to find a whale. However the main feeding ground didn‘t give us what we hoped, so we began to head home to Reykjavik city centre harbour. Just to be sure we tucked in close to Mount Esja as we came back in.

There we found white beaked dolphins! They are a friendly and curious species of cetacean, about the same size as a bottle nose dolphin, but with a less pronounced beak and wonderful markings. The pod had about 10 individuals in it and they were really showing off, bow riding the yacht, jumping, hunting and darting about. We recognised several of the individuals thanks to the cuts and scratches on their dorsal fins. Everyone was very entertained by these amazing and playful marine mammals, and we were delighted to reward everyone for their patience but the light was going as we stayed out very late having found these wonderful cetaceans.

Many people come to see the wonderful wildlife here, but they also come to see the bewitching northern lights, and we take people out again on our lovely super yacht Amelia Rose. When you book a whale watching tour with us you get 50% off your northern lights tour!

Sea Trips Reykjavik sail everyday from Reykjavík Old Harbour, Iceland. Our yacht Amelia Rose was built as a super yacht in 2003 and as such is extremely comfortable and stable, with three viewing decks, a bar, and plenty of comfortable seating. 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.

For more information on our boats, our trips and any accessibility questions please email us at seatrips@seatrips.is  or read through our FAQs.

What is the difference between baleen and toothed whales? Learn more here.