Westman Islands

Vestmannaeyjar Archipelago 

I am going to write backwards about my trip. We visited this area on our last day on the ship (September 13th) before docking again in Iceland.  

Heimaey is the main island in this set of 15 islands. The population is around 4000. This is a primary Icelandic fishing area and is known for the volcanic eruption that took place in 1973. This eruption destroyed a fifth of the town. The population was successfully evacuated to the mainland using its fishing fleet, which happened to be in the harbor because of bad weather. 

The island's puffin population is especially large, with the birds nesting in the cliffs, where they hatch their young. Once the young have hatched in late August or early September, the parents leave for their winter grounds. 

The pufflings make their way out of the nesting holes and must fly to the water in order to survive. Unfortunately, the lights of the town distract them and they often end up there rather than the sea. The young people in town look for them each evening in September and catch them. They take them to the aquarium to be weighed and checked and release them on the beaches as soon as they can. The young daughter of our guide showed us the one she caught and we watched her release it. It quickly dived in and swam away. Neat! 

We visited the local museum, which was built around one of the houses that had been covered in the 1973 eruption. 

This whole island is fascinating, as it is the youngest part of Iceland. The island increased in size by one-third due to the eruption.