Day 2: July 22

This morning began with safety training to prepare us for our first Zodiac excursion and wet landing. As the Grosvenor Girls, aka "The Teachers," we were asked to introduce ourselves to the travelers later in the morning briefing. Lisa and I spoke about our teaching roles and our roles as Grosvenor Teacher Fellows. This introduction would open doors to future conversations with other travelers.

After lunch, we had our first excursion of the expedition. We took Zodiacs to Flatey Island and took a short hike. As the name suggests, the island is flat, with the highest point just 72 feet above sea level. (Source: Flatey, Skjálfandi. (2023, July 7) In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatey,_Skj%C3%A1lfandi) 

We saw puffins, Artic Terns, Common Redshank, and Meadow Pipit. While hiking, I noticed a man with a large net in a field trying to capture birds. Our guide inquired, and the men were scientists banding the birds for research. We had the incredible opportunity to see a tern chick that was banded. We learned that the oldest bird the researcher was studying was 48, and the oldest tern was 29.

A walk provided many opportunities for this photog to preserve memories of this beautiful space, from the sweet little Flatey Church, the smallest library in Iceland, and a shipwreck. 

We journeyed on the ship past Látrabjarg, or bird-cliff, in the Westfjords. There were so many puffins zipping about it was difficult to capture a crisp picture.