National Geographic Explorer slipped into the bay at the south side of Jan Mayen in dense fog. As the morning wore on, the fog thinned, allowing us to go ashore on this incredibly remote and otherworldly island—the most remote in the Arctic.
For as long as he can remember, Conor has always been preoccupied with the natural world, from the whales to the fungi. For most of his life he has been an islander: growing up in Cobh, Ireland and settling down in Tobermory in the Hebrides, Scotland...
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Our last full expedition day in Iceland began at Flatey, a small island between the Westfjords and Snæfellsnes. After a short Zodiac cruise, we landed on the inhabited island and wandered by picturesque wooden houses while observing various Arctic birds, including puffins, redshanks, red-necked phalaropes, and Arctic terns. The small church was another highlight due to its decorative and modern paintings. In the afternoon, the ship went alongside the small town of Grundarfjörður on northern Snæfellsnes. After a walk or a short bus ride, we visited the Kirkjufellsfoss Waterfall next to the majestic Kirkjufell Mountain. Whilst the ship sailed silently towards tomorrow’s destination, Reykjavík, the evening ended with the guest slideshow and the Captain’s dinner.
We woke up to stunning, misty views of Isafjordur, Iceland. Isafjordur is nestled in the Westfjords of the country’s northwest corner, and it is home to a mere 2,800 citizens. Incredibly colourful buildings and art cover the waterfront city, and a steep, green tundra and steep mountain slopes are in the background, offering guests a true “postcard moment.” Guests enjoyed a long hike to a hidden waterfall, a tour of the city’s flora and fauna, and finally, a tasting tour. After a particularly wonderful morning, we slowly cruised through the fjords on our way to Vigur. Almost everyone was out on deck to take in the dreamy landscapes. We spotted some wild horses on Aedey, plenty of puffins, and around 15-18 humpback whales! After learning about Happywhale and the art of citizen science, every person with a camera worked hard to get some photographs of the flukes. The underside of a humpback tail is completely unique, similar to a human fingerprint. As photos were taken, they were brought to Eva, our on-board marine mammologist. She was able to “Live ID” the whales! We positively identified nine flukes of whales previously spotted in Iceland. We uploaded the flukes to Happywhale’s website and shared them on the Facebook page, “Whale Sightings in Iceland.” The page collects cetacean sightings throughout Iceland. After our afternoon tea, we arrived on Vigur, a private island covered by grasses and home to countless birds, including eiders, puffins, and arctic terns. During nesting season, female eiders use their down feathers for nesting material. After eiders leave their nests, locals collect the down to produce filling for apparel. With our “tern poles” held firmly above our heads, 61 guests braved walking across the island, a known breeding site for arctic terns. We enjoyed Hjonabandssaela (“happy marriage cake”) made with fresh, locally grown rhubarb while we mailed postcards from the smallest post office in Europe! Our first day in Iceland was wrapped up with a barbecue buffet, complete with a donut wall!
We are in a water world: freshwater rain, saltwater ocean, ice in the form of icebergs, sea ice, multiyear ice, and water particles in the fog and clouds that hide the horizon. As Captain Martin tells us, “You really learn how to drive a ship in ice because that’s where it’s really tricky.” The Bridge Team does an exceptional job. The sea covers 71% of the Earth, containing 97% of all water on our planet. Life originally evolved out of the sea. As Rachel Carson explains in The Sea Around Us , “When they went ashore the animals that took up a land life carried with them a part of the sea in their bodies, a heritage which they passed on to their children and which even today links each land animal with its origin in the ancient sea. Fish, amphibian, and reptile, warm-blooded bird and mammal — each of us carries in our veins a salty stream in which the elements sodium, potassium, and calcium are combined in almost the same proportions as in seawater. This is our inheritance from the day, untold millions of years ago, when a remote ancestor, having progressed from the one-celled to the many-celled stage, first developed a circulatory system in which the fluid was merely the water of the sea.” Following last night’s crew talent show (and a gloriously splendid iceberg lit by sunshine just off the starboard side for a finale), everyone was given a chance to sleep in and enjoy a midmorning brunch. What better way to spend a rainy, stormy afternoon than by enjoying a series of provocative and exciting presentations, beginning at 1200 with Macduff’s, “The Very Question of Nature—A Cultural Context.” A Q & A was fielded by staff afterwards. At 1400, Brett gave a presentation of expedition diving, bringing along his underwater camera housing and flashes and a dry suit. We learned that Brett’s great-great grandfather was the sports fisherman and writer Zane Grey. Riders of the Purple Sage was his most popular book. At 1600, the photo team, Jeff and Macduff, answered questions about cameras and photography, followed by Kerstin’s presentation on “Male or Female: The Art of Sexing Polar Bears.” This was followed by recap and a splendid evening meal. After dinner, Jeff and Macduff conducted their well-attended, second photo critique session of this expedition voyage. Even before they finished at 2200 as we neared Ísafjördur, we sighted the windswept, mountainous coastline of Iceland from the lounge.
