Circumnavigation of Icelan - July 31 to Aug 07, 2019

More documents

Info

DAY 2: Surtsey & Vestmannaey 1 st of August 2019 - By Yuri Choufour, Expedition Photographer We began our morning with a slow sail past the famous volcanic island of Surtsey, the Westernmost island of the Westman islands archipelago of 15 islands. Also holding the title of youngest island in the group, Surtsey first rose out of the sea during a volcanic eruption beginning in 1963, which lasted for almost three years. Several other islands surfaced during this eruption, but were quickly broken down by the strong Atlantic waves. Surtsey is off limits to tourists, but scientists have performed ongoing studies of the flora and fauna, and also keep a record of the debris & garbage that washes ashore on the island. © Nadia © Yuri Benouddane Choufur Surtsey has established green patches with an array of vegetation, which is well fertilized by the large colonies of seabirds, in particular the Northern gannet. Shortly after passing Surtsey and a few more small islands, we eventually reach Heimay, the largest of them all, and home to about four thousand people. Heimaey is a powerhouse in the fishing industry, with a large chunk of the Icelandic revenue generated there by the islands fishermen and business folks. Page 8 From the Voyage Log © Yuri Choufur Tourism is growing to the island, and the daily ferry between the mainland and Heimay brings cars and tourists and is the lifeline for freight and so on. We managed to dock alongside in the port, which made landing a breeze - no wet or dry Zodiac landings today. The passengers were split into several groups, making long and shorter walks exploring the town, but all ended up in the very interesting eruption museum and received an IPOD introduction in their languages about the 1973 eruption that laid a large part of the town to waste. © Yuri Choufur 31 July – 07 August , 2019 © Yuri Choufur © Yuri Choufur © Yeti Several hundred houses are still buried © deep Yuri Choufur down below the enormous lava stream, which originated from a 1.3 kilometres long fissure above town, that eventually started flowing down towards the town centre, burying one street after the other. On that fateful night in 1973, the towns inhabitants luckily managed to escape to the mainland, as the fishing fleet had been in port due to a bad storm the day before. Most inhabitants eventually came back to rebuild their homes, showing the true spirit of the Icelandic people. Volume 1, Issue 10
Puffins Facts Nadia Benouddane, Expedition Guide Page 9 The puffin is Iceland’s most iconic bird and one which both tourist and locals love to see in the wild. In the past, struggling coastal communities like Iceland had to use all of its natural resources available for survival. This included eating these adorable little birds. While the Atlantic Puffin is now protected by legislation in other countries, Iceland and the Faroe Islands still allow puffin hunting. 1 During the summer, Iceland is the home of around 10 million puffins, with the largest breeding colonies in the Westman Islands archipelago. The islands, just 10 km south of the mainland, hold around 20% of the world’s Atlantic Puffin population, making it the largest puffin colony in the world. However, in recent years, the puffin colonies have started to decline. This is not believed to be because of habitat destruction or overhunting, but because of several failed breeding seasons. Due to dwindling numbers of birds, temporary restrictions on hunting have been made to protect the species. 3 There are four species of puffins, three of them are appearing quite similar. The Atlantic and the Horned Puffin look alike, with the exception of a blue-grey triangle at the base of the Atlantic puffin’s beak and the horn puffin has a horns pointing out fro the eyes. During the breeding season, straw-like golden coloured feathers protrude from the crown of the tufted puffin’s head and the body is entirely black. The fourth species, the rhinoceros auklet, doesn’t look like the other three – it’s ashen coloured, with a rhino-like protrusion during the breeding season. But it’s still technically a puffin. 2 Puffins are called several names based on their appearance. Puffin is thought to come from the word puff, meaning swollen, because the fluffy pufflings do appear rather round. Puffins have also been referred to as the clowns of the ocean or sea parrots. These last ones spend most of their life out in the sea where just before winter they shed the outer layer of their beak, leaving them smaller and duller. When spring arrives, though, their beaks return to their bright form, just intime for mating season © Yuri Choufour © Yuri Choufour 4 When starting a puffin family, our feathered friends dig out a burrow using their sharp claws and beak, usually in a grassy bank or rocky crevice. At the back of their burrow home, they build a nest lined with feathers and grass where the female lays a single egg. Both parents take it in turn to incubate the egg for the next 36-45 days before the baby “puffling” hatches. The young will follow the parents to the sea and will only return to the colony when it reaches the maturity to breed at the age of five. 31 July – 07 August , 2019 Volume 1, Issue 10
Page 1 and 2: 31 st of July - 7 th of August, 201
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS The Voyage By the
Page 5 and 6: By the Numbers… Page 5 Voyage Sta
Page 7: The Seven Sisters of Szczecin David
Page 11 and 12: Food For Survival Nadia Benouddane
Page 13 and 14: DAY 5: Hrisey, Akureyri & Myvatn 4
Page 15 and 16: DAY 7: Arnarstapi 6 th of August 20
Page 17 and 18: DAY 8: Home Again 7 th of August 20

Circumnavigation of Icelan - July 31 to Aug 07, 2019

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?