Now even though the conditions on some of our worst tours are nowhere near what the Icelandic fishermen are sometimes facing we thought it might be a good idea to include this link to a video taken on board one of the capelin vessel few days ago. Icelandic fishermen are true heroes!

Yesterday Rannveig Grétarsdóttir, owner and manager of Elding Whale Watching, got acknowledged by the Icelandic Association of Women Entrepreneurs (FKA - Félag kvenna í atvinnurekstri). We‘ve always know what a great woman she is but it was really nice being there with her to celebrate this achievement.

FKA is a non-profit professional organisation for Icelandic based women business owners. Its aim is among others to bring together women business owners in order to make them stronger and more noticed in the business world and in the society. Rannveig was chosen out of hundreds of women for her achievements. She founded Elding Whale Watching with her family in 2000 and has made it one of the most successful businesses in the tourism sector.

Congratulations Rannveig from all the Elding team!

From the reception yesterday, taken by Guðlaugur Ottesen Karlsson

In the last few days we have been looking back at the year 2011 the Elding team agrees that is has surely been an interesting year. We are really proud of our achievements and determined to do better even better this year. Here is Elding’s chronicle for 2011 for those interested:

For the first time we offered daily whale watching all year round and because of that we have never had more tours on schedule. The first half of the year we sought a difficult battle with the weather gods and as a result we had to cancel way too many tours. Despite that we had quite a few amazing tours. The first minke whale of the year we encountered early, already in February, which gave us good confidence for the coming season. The minke whales are usually the hub of our sightings from April to October and this year was no different. Additionally we saw white-beaked dolphins and harbour porpoises but also few humpback whales, orca and fin whales. When it came to autumn we were exhilarated coming upon blue whales, fin whales, orca and humpback whales on our tours from Grindavík and continued to see the orca and minke whales in Faxaflói in November. Thes are last years statistics in comparison to the years before for those interested:

EL-01/EL-02 Summer	2011	2010	2009	2008
Minke whales	92.51%	91.51%	81,84%	77.03%
Harbour porpoises	51.42%	47.68%	31.09%	24.86%
White-beaked dolphins	27.13%	32.24%	32.09%	44.59%
Humpback whales	2.02%	2.90%	14.43%	31.35%
Basking shark	1.62%	2.90%	0.35%	0.81%
Killer whales	0.61%	0.58%	0.50%	0%
Fin whales	0.40%	0%	0%	0%
Over all sighting success	93.61%	95.75%	95.04%	90.91%

EL-03 Winter	2011	2010	2009	2008
White-beaked dolphins	66.23%	75,36%	83.93%	61.84%
Minke whales	33.77%	39.13%	37.50%	27.63%
Harbour porpoises	22.08%	14.49%	35.71%	32.89%
Blue whales	10.39%	0%	0%	0%
Humpback whales	9.09%	14.49%	28.57%	23.68%
Fin whales	6.49%	0%	0%	0%
Killer whales	5.19%	2.9%	7.14%	3.95%
Over all sighting success	76.53%	75.82%	91.80%	86.44%

This year we are going to increase our whale watching departures even further during the high season. For the first time we will add German guidance in addition to English on scheduled tours on Thursdays this summer. Like before, groups can though request guidance in German, French and Danish on all tours with some notice.

The sea angling season was highly successful. We increased our departures on Fridays and Saturdays to two tours a day during the high season but settled with daily departures other days of the week. The catch was great and happy customers barbecued cod, haddock, catfish and more on their way back to shore after an adventurous day at sea. Some also took their catch to the nearby restaurants where the chef prepared a nice meal for them.

This winter we have also offered to put sea angling on schedule for a minimum participation of five. So far we have taken few groups and individuals out in October and November with good success. For the inexperienced the cold days have been quite challenging and dressing warmly is essential despite the warm overalls provided on board.

In mid April we were thrilled to see the first glimpse of this years puffins. They started settling in Akurey and Lundey at the beginning of May but unfortunately they seem to have rushed their return home. Few cold days and some snow in early May dispelled the puffins back to sea and they didn’t really return back to the islands until the turn of the month. This, in addition to lack of sandeels, disrupted the breeding and ornithologists say there was a complete collapse. Given the difficulty in the breeding for the last couple of years this is truly something to worry about.

Despite all this the puffin tours were fairly successful this summer. We were though especially careful not to disrupt the delicate biosphere at difficult times. We saw more of the puffins on the water around the islands as there wasn’t much activity on the islands. We surely hope that 2012 will be more favourable to the puffins that attract thousands of tourists and locals every year.

Viðey has been lively this year. The diverse program of events has attracted tourists just as the locals all year round. Fascinated by the island’s history, art and nature or simply there to enjoy the quiet and beautiful ambiance guests always find something suitable. During the winter the light of the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER attracts a whole new group of visitors and on 9 October, when the tower was re-lit this year there were about 900 guests present.

December 8th 1980 marked one of the worst days for Beatle lovers when John Lennon was tragically killed. Yoko Ono as a tribute to John reserected, here in Iceland, her Light House idea which we now call the Imagine Peace Tower located on Viðey Island. Every year the tower is lit between John Lennons birthday 9 October and his sad demise on 8 December. Thus last night we felt it nessesary to do our part to remember John by including abit extra to the usual tour. Guests carried a torch to the tower and sent a wish with a floating candle out into the sea. Incredible dynamic skies made the rememberence even more powerful.

A creative workshop for friends and families will be held at Viðeyjarstofa (in Viðey island) Saturday, December 3rd from 2 p.m.

The theme of the workshop is based on Yoko Ono’s Imagine Peace Tower, and the words IMAGINE PEACE. Peace, equality and compassion is the focus for a creative writers- and drawing workshop for kids and adults, inspired by Bryndís Björgvinsdóttir´s children´s novel Flugan sem stöðvaði stríðið (The fly that stopped the war), that recently won the Icelandic children’s book prize. Afterwards everyone gets a chance to use their own imagination in words and play in their own mother tongue, in collaboration with Mother Tongue – Association of Bilingualism. The Palestinian poet and journalist Mazen Maarouf will also read few of his works. Mazen is Reykjavík's first ICORN (International Cities of Refuge Network) guest writer.

This is a perfect opportunity for family and friends to get creative and enjoy peace and togetherness in a cosy environment. The coffee house in Viðeyjarstofa will be open all day for those who want to enjoy the selection of refreshments offered. Afterwards a walk to the Imagine Peace Tower is offered for those interested.

Program:

2 p.m.        Recital from the novel Flugansemstöðvaðistríðið
2.30 p.m    Workshop
4 p.m         Presentation
4 p.m         Guided walk to the Imagine Peace Tower

The ferry departs from Skarfabakki at: 1.15, 2.15 and 3.15 p.m. and from Viðey at: 1.30, 2.30, 3.30, 4.30 p.m. and right after the guided walk to the Imagine Peace Tower.

The ferry toll is kr. 1000 for adults and kr. 500 for children (6-18 years old), free for children under 6 years old.

This is a collaborative project between Reykjavik City Library, Reykjavik Art Museum and Videyisland.

The IMAGINE PEACE TOWER

Bryndís Björnsdóttir the author of the children´s novel Flugan sem stöðvaði stríðið

Mazen Maarouf a poet and journalist Reykjavík's first ICORN guest writer 

The first ever international WhaleFest was held during the first weekend in November in Brighton, UK. The Elding team was there among more than 2.500 other whale watchers and dolphin fans from across the world. The whale fest was great fun and for us it was truly amazing to meet so many people sharing our interest in whales. We had our own stand there where attendants could learn more about our tours and discuss with us. We were also able to attend a great selection of small workshops, lectures and checked out other stands at the exhibition. We came back with some great ideas to make our tours even better and we are already looking forward to next year's WhaleFest.

 
We were quite busy at our stand and found great interest in whale watching in Iceland

At the WhaleFest we met our good frined Mark Carwardine

We clearly made good use of our time in the UK as before the Whale fest we took part in a whale and dolphin watch operator workshop aimed at responsible whale watching operation and after it we headed to London for the World Travel Market. Visit Iceland had a stand there and Elding shared a counter there. The WTM was really busy and again we found great interest in Iceland and of course whale watching. Again we were able to attend lectures inbetween our meetings and being at the counter.

The Elding counter on Visit Iceland booth

Busy meetings all day

Speed Networking n Monday