Another beautiful day in Iceland onboard a luxury superyacht.

We found a gorgeous little porpoise, and saw several different species of sea birds. However, we didn‘t find any larger cetaceans like whales so we invited all of our customers to come back for free in the next three years. 

When we left Reykjavik harbor it was a really wintery day, bright but cold and windy. In Iceland, we call it Gluggaveður, which translates to window weather when it looks very sunny and lovely outside through the window, but when you get out there it’s windy and cold. Either way, we were happy to be out on the water, and the occasional flurries of snow just added to the beauty of the landscape.

We headed out through the barrier islands of Akurey, Lundey, and Viðey into the great bay, where we often find whales and dolphins feeding, especially the minke whales and humpback whales that Iceland is so famous for. On our way towards the main feeding group, our guide’s quick eyes caught sight of a fin! It was a harbor porpoise, the smallest of the four cetaceans we commonly find in Faxafloi. We take porpoises as a good omen, they are often found in areas with other marine mammals, due to the richness of the water bringing all these incredible wild animals together.

All the boats on the water kept their eyes open but sadly no one found anything, and as the wind picked up and the waves got bigger we eventually gave up and headed back into Reykjavik harbor. It was a real shame not to see any whales, and so we gave our customers free tickets to return as many times as they need to in three years to see our whales and dolphins in real life.

Many people come to see the wonderful wildlife here, but they also come to see the incredible 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 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, 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?

We see both toothed and baleen whales here in Reykjavik harbour, 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.