Grímsey Island & Hvalvík Bay, Iceland
Late last night the National Geographic Explorer departed the fishing village of Húsavík headed for the tiny island of Grímsey, which straddles the Arctic Circle and is the northernmost inhabited island off the coast of Iceland. We were hoping to visit the enormous bird colonies to be found there and were especially eager to see puffins at their nesting burrows along the tops of the basaltic cliffs of the islands. Two blue whales and several humpback whales captured our attention along the way, and instead of spending the golden hour with puffins we stayed with the whales and enjoyed a calm evening with the largest animals to ever have lived on the planet.
This morning we awoke anchored off Grímsey, and were finally able to land ashore and hike to the cliffs and the promised bird colonies. Puffins in burrows and in rafts on the water, fulmars nesting along the basalt cliffs, Arctic terns wheeling and calling above our heads, black-legged kittiwakes, eider ducks, and red-necked phalaropes all bathing, courting, and fishing in the same fresh water pond. It can literally be said that Grímsey Island is going to the birds, as the 155 or so people living on the island are far outnumbered by their fellow feathered friends. Cameras whirred and clicked as the birds performed their rituals right there on stage in front of us.
Back on board we weighed anchor with the intent of steaming east to the Langanes peninsula, but once again those wonderful whales had other plans. Blue whales were again spotted (perhaps as many as 6 different blue whales) and we were once again happily detained, our plans changing with this rare sighting. During the 20th century blue whales were hunted to the point of commercial extinction, with numbers being reduced from perhaps as many as 13,000 individuals to only a few hundred blues left alive in the northeast Atlantic today. Seeing blue whales in such relatively large numbers twice in the last 18 hours in these Icelandic waters is thrilling indeed!
With the alteration of our plans due to whales Expedition Leader Tim Soper kicked into true expedition mode as we scrapped the Langanes peninsula in favor of a new location called Hvalvík Bay. None onboard the ship had been here before so a Zodiac cruise seemed to be the perfect option to explore this remote and rugged area. What an amazing surprise was in store for us as we poked around the coves, sea caves, and columnar basalt arches found in abundance in this delightful bay.
Our delay and diversion led us to find a whole new location, perhaps one of the most spectacular wild spots we have visited so far on this expedition, and all thanks to being detained by those beautiful blue whales!
