We awoke this morning aboard the National Geographic Orion to clear skies and windy conditions. Our stretch of good weather continued to hold, allowing us to fully appreciate the snow-capped volcanoes of southern Iceland: Mýrdalsjkull and the famously unpronounceable Eyjafjallajökull, which last erupted in 2010 and disrupted air traffic across Europe. As we headed toward the Westmann Islands and our morning destination – the island of Heimaey – our naturalist Adam Cropp gave a thought-provoking presentation about the pressing issue of climate change.
In the early afternoon, we arrived at the extremely narrow entrance to the harbor at Heimaey. After docking, we boarded a coach for a tour of the island or hiked to the top of Eldfell Volcano, which erupted in 1973 and produced a lava flow that widened the island but threatened to close off the harbor. Eldfell erupted very close to town and about one quarter of the houses in Heimaey were destroyed. Houses were set on fire by molten volcanic “bombs” or collapsed from the weight of air-fall volcanic tephra during the eruption. The townspeople sprayed cold seawater to slow the advance of the lava front.
The wind had died down on this beautiful late-summer day, making our visit to the small island of Heimaey even more spectacular. A highlight was the Eldheimar Museum, which was built around some excavated homes and features some fantastic displays of local volcanic history.
Our afternoon concluded with a sail past Surtsey, Iceland’s newest island, which rose out of the ocean during an underwater eruption in 1963 that lasted for four years. Surtsey has become an important research location for volcanologists, botanists, and biologists studying the formation of land and succession of life on the island. Surtsey is now being eroded by wave attack and is only about half of its original size. As we approached Surtsey, we noticed a large group of northern gannets dive-bombing for fish in the teeming waters. To our amazement and delight, a pod of at least six killer whales (orcas) also joined the intense feeding frenzy.
Later on, after dinner and farewell cocktails, as twilight fell and we headed toward our disembarkation port of Reykjavík, we bid this great land one last farewell, at least for now.
