Tuesday, 30 May 2017

A strong northern wind and overcast during all day in the Eyjafjördur. Despite the unfortunate weather conditions, we could encounter two species of cetaceans today, a minke whale and five humpbacks. Luckily whales do not seem to be impressed by the rough winds, and just leaving Akureyri we could see the minke whale and many arctic terns around feeding near the surface. Afterwards, we searched the location near Hjalteyri for some time, and two humpbacks were then spotted. In the beginning, we saw two animals in different areas. The whales were going down for a long time; therefore we had to be more patient today. We could see more three animals at a distance, but we decided to stay with the whales close to Hjalteyri due to weather conditions. Furthermore, fascinating seabirds were in the Eyjafjördur as weel, such as eider ducks, kittiwakes, northern fulmars, and skuas.

Text and pictures by Manu Bassoi.