Western Fjords

 July 9:

Another morning at sea en route to Isafjordur, the largest city in the west of Iceland... but with an iceberg! Seeing an iceberg off the north shore of Iceland is incredibly rare— none of the ship’s staff had ever seen one, and even the internet doesn’t have much to say about it. The ship diverted to be able to sail all the way around it. The ship’s captain estimated it to be 300 meters long by 150 meters wide and at least 10 meters high ( plus another 90 meters below the surface). It was extremely rectangular, with little evidence of calving or melting.  Based on the shape of the iceberg, currents, and current ice pack images, our glacier expert was able to determine that it came from a glacier in northeastern Greenland, and drifted south with the East Greenland Current.  We spotted a few whale blows, but they were at least a mile away from the ship.

This afternoon we took a stroll at the end of a small fjord to a waterfall. Along the way we saw any of the wildflowers that have graced earlier hikes, including orchids, mountain avens, wild thyme, blueberries, forget-me-nots, and many kinds of heather. And yes, it was another warm and sunny day!

After dinner, we sailed to the tiny island of Vigur, which is a bird sanctuary and an eider(down) farm. Learning more about eiderdown gathering, cleaning and processing for sale was fascinating. We were able to hold a soccer ball size mass of the cleaned down— with your eyes closed you couldn’t tell you were holding it — it is so light and fluffy. Vigur is also home to a small group of harbor seals, several hundred thousand (yes really) puffins, and the largest colony of black guillemots (a slim seabird related to puffins) in Iceland. It is also home to many nesting Arctic Terns, so once again we had to carry sticks over our heads to avoid being skewered from above.  It was truly a special evening. 

When we returned to the ship, we went out on the bow to watch the sunset. There were beautiful reflections of the sun in the water and the water patterns created by sea birds tang iff. 

Pictured: iceberg, sunset, puffin, female eider with chicks