L2515 Natural Wonders of Iceland
- pmh0606617
- Jul 31
- 8 min read
Updated: Sep 3
10th-20th July 2025, MS Balmoral
All images used in this blog were taken during the cruise. Click on the images to view them at full size.
Day 1. 10/07/25 – Rosyth.
After early afternoon embarkation on MS Balmoral, the OWE Team (Martin Kitching, Sarah Barratt, Paul Hill and Mark Newsome) were out on Deck 7 aft for sailaway.
Passing Bass Rock, the world’s largest gannetry which had 46,000 apparently occupied nests in 2024, it was no surprise that Gannets were a feature of the first few hours of the cruise. Guillemot adult and chick pairs called as we passed them, and cruise guests were quickly able to recognise when birds were there, even if they weren’t immediately visible in the wake. Before we were out into the North Sea, a Minke Whale gave a couple of brief views, feeding flocks of Black-legged Kittiwake were around the mouth of the Forth, and a windfarm provided an interesting foreground for photographing the sunset.
The OWE Team on L2515 (L-R: Paul, Sarah, Mark, Martin), MS Balmoral ©OWE
Northern Gannet, Firth of Forth 10/07/25 © Martin Kitching/OWE
Approaching sunset off Fife 10/07/25 © Martin Kitching/OWE
Day 2. 11/07/25 – at sea, outer Moray Firth, Pentland Firth, Faroe-Shetland Channel.
Calm conditions were conducive to spotting Harbour Porpoises then, as we passed the outer Moray Firth, dense feeding flocks of Black-legged Kittiwake could be seen through the hazy air and the first White-beaked Dolphins of the cruise breached just ahead of us. More could be seen distantly and six Killer Whales surfaced simultaneously in a large circle in the area where we’d seen one group of White-beaks. Lots of splashing may have been an indication that the dolphins were being hunted. Early afternoon was a scenic cruise by Duncansby Head, the Old Man of Hoy and the Needle, all missed by Martin and Sarah who were hosting a private lunch with six lovely guests
Passing Orkney and heading north more White-beaked Dolphins, including one persistently breaching individual, two Risso’s Dolphins, and a Minke Whale, were seen. More White-beaked and Risso’s Dolphins were seen into the evening and Fulmars, Gannets, Guillemots and Black-legged Kittiwakes continued to dominate bird sightings. In fading light approaching sunset, the team were still out on deck watching huge numbers of Fulmar crossing the wake, then a Humpback Whale surfaced just behind the ship! A couple of guests still out on deck 8, and a family of four who were on deck 7 aft, also enjoyed this leviathan as it stayed close to the wake, gradually vanishing into the gloom away to the east.
Day 3. 12/07/25 – Torshavn, Faroe Islands.
With long daylight hours Martin was out on deck just after 4am, and was joined by three passengers who were walking laps of the promenade deck while most onboard were sleeping. The early start paid off with a Humpback Whale as the ship headed north past the island of Suduroy at the southern tip of the Faroe archipelago.
In Torshavn, the team walked around the marina and quayside along to a small bay to the west of the town. Eiders (presumably of the faroeensis race), Arctic Terns, and Black Guillemots were on the water, and the team got very excited by the appearance of a Faeroese Wren, particularly when it decided to perch at the top of a tree and start singing.
At the end of the walk back into the town, Google was consulted for the location of the closest pub that was open and led us to Pub Torsholl. Anyhoo, have you seen the opening scene of An American Werewolf in London?
Departure from Torshavn took us past the island of Nolsoy, which is home to the world’s largest colony of European Storm-petrels, then west between Sandoy and Hestur, with spectacular sunset colours as a backdrop to the stunning landscape of the islands.
Day 4. 13/07/25 – at sea, Iceland-Faroe Rise.
Another day where bird sightings were dominated by Northern Fulmar, and then a mind-blowing couple of hours from early afternoon, until it was time for afternoon tea, brought sightings of no fewer than nine cetacean species! Northern Bottlenose Whale, Minke Whale, Fin Whale, Sei Whale, Humpback Whale, Sperm Whale, Long-finned Pilot Whale, White-beaked Dolphin and Atlantic White-sided Dolphin all appeared in under two and a half hours, with the pilot whales being very obliging, as were a Humpback that eventually waved goodbye by fluking, and a Sperm Whale that was logging and blowing and seen by over a hundred passengers on Deck 7 aft, including some who watched it from the comfort of the hot tubs 😊
Day 5. 14/07/25 – Seydisfjordur, Iceland.
The first of four consecutive port days in Iceland started with a passenger who was out on deck because they’d put their clock forward instead of back (anyone who has been on a cruise ship will know the struggle…) using their mobile ‘phone to shoot a video of White-beaked Dolphins 😊
Walking a track through the wet meadows along the river from Seydisfjordur, Redwings were feeding young in the trees, Arctic Terns were feeding their chicks on the edge of the water, a male Red-necked Phalarope was very obliging as he visited a little calm spot in the river, Whimbrel, Common Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit and Snipe were all calling or displaying, and a male Harlequin was sleeping for a couple of hours before waking up and swimming downstream. It’s hard to put into words just how stunning these birds are so a photograph, or three, will have to suffice.
Clockwise: Harlequin Duck; Whimbrel; Red-necked Phalarope; Black-tailed Godwit. © Martin Kitching/OWE
Clockwise: Redwing; Whimbrel; Arctic Tern; Purple Sandpiper. © Paul Hill/OWE
Another target for the team was Brunnich’s Guillemot, and one was on the sea as we left the fjord and sailed calm waters that were broken only by the ripples of Harbour Porpoises surfacing.
With 24hr daylight, and the potential for Blue Whale on our journey to Akureyri, half of the team opted to stay away through the night and were rewarded with 15 Humpback Whales as the ship headed down the fjord towards our next port.
Humpback Whales as we approached Akureyi © Paul Hill/OWE
Day 6. 15/07/25 – Akureyri, Iceland.
After breakfast, three of the team took a taxi journey along the river from the town and then walked back to the port. Redwings, Meadow Pipits and White Wagtails were the predominant passerines, redpolls trilled in flight and occasionally perched obligingly, a Long-tailed Duck was in the river close to the airport, and Ravens soared, tumbled, and cronked their way along the skyline. The airport runway had Ringed Plovers, Arctic Terns and Black-headed Gulls, with Whooper Swans by the water’s edge nearby, then the large town lake in Akureyri had adult and young Slavonian Grebes, and adult and young Red-throated Divers.
Meadow Pipit; Long-tailed Duck; Raven; Redpoll and Whooper Swan © Martin Kitching/OWE
Top: Red-throated Diver; Centre: Slavonian Grebe; Bottom: Wigeon with ducklings. © Paul Hill/OWE
Sailing out from Akureyri was another opportunity, for anyone who hadn’t been up in the middle of the night to see the Humpback Whales…and soon after sailing visibility was reduced to ~30m by fog. Moral of the story is if you’ve got two chances, don’t rely on the second one 😊
Day 7. 16/07/25 – Isafjordur, Iceland.
Humpback Whales dominated cetacean sightings as we approached Isafjordur, and a handy waterfall on a cliff made giving directions to the passengers out on deck with us much easier than it would have otherwise been. Isafjordur has an Arctic Tern colony right next to the cruise terminal and as Balmoral manoeuvred into position for docking, dozens of terns were dip-feeding in our wake.
Arctic Terns as we disembarked the MS Balmoral in Isafjordur © Paul Hill/OWE
One member of the team opted for a long walk, with the other three only going as far as a small river along the fjord. A female Harlequin Duck with ducklings was the highlight there, and seven Red-necked Phalaropes were on the same stretch of river. Thunderstorms are apparently rare in Iceland so forked lightning, and thunder echoing around the hillsides, came as a surprise. Torrential rain thankfully only lasted a few minutes, and when the sun came back out two Red-throated Divers were obligingly close in beautiful light.
Clockwise: Red-throated Diver; Harelequin ducklings; Red-necked Phalarope and Eider © Martin Kitching/OWE
Sailaway produced sightings of what were almost certainly the same group of five Humpback Whales that we’d seen on the way in earlier in the day, and White-beaked Dolphins passed quickly by into the wake.
Day 8. 17/07/25 – Reykjavik, Iceland.
After an early arrival we took the shuttle bus from the cruise terminal into the city then walked along to the city lakes and an area of pools close to the airport. Whooper Swan, Greater Scaup, Tufted Duck, Greylag Goose and Gadwall were all on the water, and the pools close to the airport had some noisy, and aggressive, Arctic Terns.
Scaup and Arctic Terns © Paul Hill/OWE
Paul and Mark went to look at the cathedral, and Martin and Sarah visited Hallgrimskirkja before walking to the whale museum.
Sailing south in the evening we could see the plume from the active volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula, and Gannets passed by us on their way to the island of Eldey, Iceland’s largest gannetry, which is infamous in ornithology as the place that the last ever breeding pair of Great Auks were killed, in June 1844.
Minke Whales were seen, although none of them were particularly obliging, but the highlight of the evening was nine Basking Sharks!
Basking Sharks © Martin Kitching/OWE
Day 9. 18/07/25 – at sea, south of the Faroe Islands towards Orkney.
A challenging day with drizzle and poor visibility limiting observations. Fulmars continued to dominate bird sightings, and the only cetaceans were an unidentified whale blow, and several distant and unidentified dolphins.
Gannets and Fulmar © Paul Hill/OWE
Day 10. 19/07/25 - at sea, north of Sula Sgeir to south of the Moray Firth.
Our final sea day had patches of fog with very reduced visibility, but the sunny spells brought more cetaceans – Minke Whale, White-beaked Dolphin, Risso’s Dolphin and Harbour Porpoise – and thousands of Black-legged Kittiwake dominated our bird sightings, along with hundreds of Guillemot, Fulmar and Gannet.
Day 11. 20/07/25 – Rosyth.
With an early morning arrival, and losing the extended daylight hours of Iceland, we had our first day without any observation at sea during the entire cruise, had breakfast then disembarked ahead of the short(ish) drive back to the North East (Martin, Sarah and Mark) and longer journey to the North West (Paul).
SPECIES | NUMBER |
White-beaked Dolphin | 77 |
Long-finned Pilot Whale | 50 |
Harbour Porpoise | 37 |
Humpback Whale | 35 |
Risso's Dolphin | 22 |
Minke Whale | 18 |
Atlantic White-sided Dolphin | 17 |
Killer Whale | 7 |
Northern Bottlenose Whale | 5 |
Sperm Whale | 2 |
Sei Whale | 2 |
Fin Whale | 1 |
TOTAL | 273 |
Acknowledgments: Many thanks to Fred Olsen Cruise Lines and the staff and crew of MS Balmoral, for enabling Ocean Wildlife Encounters to support this cruise, and of course, to all of the cruise guests who spent time on deck with us and delivered an endless stream of questions and entertaining banter.
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