Our first day of exploring Iceland was a memorable one as the weather gods smiled in our favor. Guests enjoyed fantastic conditions at Flatey, which translates to flat (flat) ey (island), or flat island. While guests viewed their first Atlantic puffins of the voyage and learning about life on this tiny island, the undersea team explored the nearby depths. The waters around Flatey are teeming with life from kelp forests to large cod to the nearby grey seals. Rounding out the day, we were all fortunate to enjoy a beautiful sunset with a very acrobatic whale, which we were able to identify as Floki using HappyWhale, a whale ID database. He spent a considerable amount of time breaching, slapping the water with his considerable flippers, and tail slapping under the gorgeous evening light. What a fantastic start to our voyage!
8/23/2024
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National Geographic Explorer
Reykjavík, Iceland
After a cracking morning out at sea with some truly impressive waves, we were called up to the lounge by Expedition Leader Leah Eaton, who briefed us on a volcanic eruption that had just started on the Reykjanes peninsula. As the briefing concluded, we could already see the volcanic plume through which we would later sail on our way around the Reykjanes peninsula. We finally reached Reykjavík in the afternoon, where we had our final lounge briefing with our guest slideshow, a presentation on our final volcano plan, and a farewell speech from Captain Peik Aalto. After an early dinner, we mounted a trio of busses that carried us out onto the Reykjanes peninsula to an abandoned airstrip. From there we could already see the spectacular eruption very clearly, but to get a better look, we made our way onto some of the old storage bunkers which lined the airstrip. This gave us a view of the eruption in all its glory, with smoke billowing into the sky from the two-kilometer-long fissure, and also a number of smaller fires. It was a truly wonderous ending to an already incredible expedition.
