Iceland’s only active whaling company, Hvalur hf. is reportedly canceling this summer’s fin whale hunt. This marks the second consecutive year the company has opted out of whaling during the summer season. Another whaling company, Tjaldtangi ehf., was granted permits … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Iceland
The first American naval ship lost in World War II was not sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Over a month before, on October 31, 1941, the destroyer USS Reuben James, escorting a convoy bound … Continue reading
On St. Patrick’s Day, a repost about another Irish saint, St. Brendan the Navigator, and the adventurer who sought to replicate his epic voyage. Who was the first European to sail to North America? According to Irish tradition, it was … Continue reading
News of two captive orcas. In Canada, Kiska, an orca often referred to as “the loneliest whale in the world” has died after spending over four decades in captivity at Marineland, a zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls. Kiska … Continue reading
On St. Patrick’s Day, a post about another Irish saint, St. Brendan the Navigator, and the adventurer who sought to replicate his epic voyage. Who was the first European to sail to North America? According to Irish tradition, it was … Continue reading
Earlier this year, we posted “The Incredible Journey of Belugas Little White and Little Grey,” about the 6,000-mile transport in June 2019 of the two whales by air, land, and sea from an aquarium in Shanghai to a new home … Continue reading
Almost a year ago, two beluga whales, Little White and Little Grey, traveled 6,000 miles from an aquarium in Shanghai around the globe to Iceland to a new home in the world’s first beluga whale sanctuary. If all goes well, … Continue reading
When the COVID-19 infection broke out on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, the decision was made to test all the 4,865 sailors aboard the ship. As of today, the Navy says that 94% of the crew has been tested. … Continue reading
Friday night I had the great pleasure to meet Orly Orlyson and to watch the US premiere of Cosmic Birth, the remarkable documentary that he co-directed, at the Explorer’s Club in Manhattan. Orly is an entrepreneur and the founder of … Continue reading
I recently came back from a voyage on a small ship along the west coast of Iceland. One of the highlights of the trip were stops in ports in the Westfjords, an isolated peninsula in the northwest of the island. … Continue reading
Paradoxically, whale watching by tourists to Iceland is booming. At the same time, the primary economic support for the hunting of whales by Icelandic whalers are also tourists to the island. Iceland is the largest whale watching destination in Europe. … Continue reading
When crossing the Equator for the first time, sailors have traditionally undergone a “line-crossing ceremony” which often includes being dunked in the ocean three times. Recently, on my first northern line crossing, I inadvertently presided over my own unexpected dunking, … Continue reading
We have just gotten back from a week-long voyage along the west coast of Iceland from Akureyri to Reykjavik on the three-masted motor sailor Panorama. One of the stops was the village of Hólmavík, population 300. The village may be … Continue reading
On the 21st of January, 1973, the island of Heimaey, four nautical miles off the south coast of Iceland, began to tremble. On the 23rd, a large fissure opened up on the eastern side of the island, barely a kilometer away … Continue reading
The Russian Sail Training Ship Kruzenshtern was maneuvering to depart the old harbor in Reykjavík, Iceland, yesterday, when she rammed two of the largest Icelandic Coast Guard vessels, Týr and Thor. Both ships suffered damage, although well above the waterline. … Continue reading