Oh no! We found a seal and lots of birds but no whales – everyone can return for free for 3 years!

We found a curious seal, as well as so many guillemots, gulls, fulmars and cormorants and the mountains around us were snow-capped and stunning, but we didn’t find whales or dolphins so everyone got free return tickets for three years.  

There was a chill wind coming from the north as we set our from Reykjavik on our beautiful ship, the Amelia Rose. We were looking for the whales and other marine mammals that frequent Faxafloi here in Iceland. Most commonly we find minke whales, humpback whales, white-beaked dolphins, and harbor porpoises, but we never really know what we will come across, we have seen seals, basking sharks, blue whales, pilot whales, killer whales (orca), and even a walrus in the last 12 months!  

The sea was a little choppy, but still, with amazing visibility, we could see all the way to Snaefellsnes, a volcano with a glacier on it, over 100km away! As we came out past whale fjord we found a seal, who seemed a little shocked to see us at first, but we stopped the engines and it came up to the ship several times. It seemed as interested in us as we were in it. 

In the distance we could see loads of birds across a huge area, so we headed towards it, and keep a good lookout in every direction for a sight of a fin or a blow that would tell us a whale was there. Unfortunately despite over an hour of searching, we didn’t find any cetaceans. Eventually, we had to head back into the city center, into Reykjavik harbor as we ran out of time. 

 We, the crew were really disappointed as the day before we had seen whales, dolphins, and porpoises and had such high hopes! We really want to show our lovely customers the amazing wildlife in Iceland, so we gave them all free returns for 3 years! Seeing whales and dolphins in the stunning bay outside Reykjavik is often at the top of people‘s bucket lists. It really is an Iceland must-do.   

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.

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!   

We, Sea Trips Reykjavik, sail every day out of -Reykjavík Old Harbour, Iceland. Our yacht Amelia Rose was built as a superyacht 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 give us a call.   

What is the difference between baleen and toothed whales?

We see both toothed and baleen whales here in Reykjavik harbor, Iceland. Did you know that dolphins and porpoises are also part of the same family? www.uk.whales.org is a brilliant website that goes into a lot more detail however this is the basic description!

They write that;

“Baleen whales have baleen plates, or sheets, which sieve prey from seawater. Toothed whales have teeth and they actively hunt fish, squid and other sea creatures. Dolphins and porpoises all have teeth and rather confusingly are known as ‘toothed whales’ too!

Another obvious difference between baleen and toothed whales is the number of blowholes on top of their head; baleen whales have two whereas toothed whales have one. There are only 14 baleen whale species and they are generally larger than the 76 species of toothed whales – except for the mighty sperm whale, the largest toothed whale.”

If you are interested in learning more we recommend these websites, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/group/whale-facts/ and https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/whale They have a lot of extra learning materials about cetaceans all over the world.