Raving Ravens

Jumping Whales in the Icelandic Fjords

An old friend of mine is a fisherman in the Westfjords of Iceland, where we grew up. It may sound like a tough job in the cold, fierce Arctic sea, and sometimes is, but it can also be fantastic in the amazing nature and with the amazing wildlife all around you.

This is a video he shot on his phone when sailing and all of a sudden a humpback whale breached right in front of the boat:

 

Feel free to share the whale ;)

Hjörtur

Over 100 pilot whales rescued from stranding in Iceland today

Pilot whales usually don't go as far north as Iceland but today a group of over 100 pilot whales swam close to the shore a few kilometers from my home town. As I got to the whales a few whales had already stranded but been rescued back to sea. In the video you can see as a boat arrives to drive them further away from the coast so they don't strand again:

 

I was hoping their squeeks would be heard on the video, but since this is just recorded on my mobile phone, it's mostly just wind you hear. 

It was quite an experience seeing so many whales up close, not the least for the kids. The last time a group of pilot whales came to Iceland was in 1986, so this is not a rare event here.

Pilot whales create strong social bonds and travel in large groups. They are the most common whales to strand and usually strand in large groups. The reason for their stranding is not known and is believed to consist of several combining factors.

Hjörtur

The Last Viking in America

Did the Vikings ever make to the American continent? Might there still be one left here?

Yes, Leif the Lucky had a brother who wasn't quite as lucky. Like Leif he sailed to "Vineland" in search for a place to settle. But to his bad luck, he got struck by an arrow from the natives and died from his wounds. His body was buried on a peninsula according to the sagas and left there. My mission is to find that grave.

 

Why do I want to find an old grave?
I have a personal relation to these events as Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir, one of the first settlers in America and the first European to give birth in America was my ancestor. I can trace my family directly to her. I grew up listening to the Viking sagas, not only this one, but also local ones. In the recent years archeological excavations have been proofing those sagas to be very accurate in their descriptions with graves and battlegrounds being found where they were said to be. 

This is of significant historical importance. It has been debated for a long time how far the Vikings actually did sail. The sagas tell us they sailed all the way to mainland America and in my mind there is no doubt. But physical evidence is lacking. A Viking camp believed to have belonged to Leif has been found in Newfoundland but that doesn't fit the descriptions of the settlement. So I'm going to try to find physical evidence of their arrival on the mainland.

 

What are my chances?
To increase the chance of finding the grave I will attempt to put myself into the mindset of the Vikings. To do that I will not only study the sagas from the old manuscripts, but also investigate Viking farms and graves that have been excavated in Iceland and Greenland and interview experts in the field. The descriptions of the Sagas will be followed as we sail a 60 foot ketch the same route the Vikings took from Iceland to Greenland and onwards to Canada.

Accompanying me will be the Canadian film-maker Evan Warner who worked on the award winning film People of a Feather. I have created a project on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter (http://kck.st/Lp28Km) where people can back the project by pre-purchasing the film, memorabilia or even become co-producers. You can also see examples of our earlier work.

The ketch has already left Ireland and set sail to Iceland where it will arrive June 15th. I only have 60 hours to raise the money needed so all support is very much appreciated, both financial and in spreading the word and getting media publicity. If all my readers chip in just a couple of dollars, we can make it :)

Thanks!
Hjörtur 

Humpback Whale Breaching in Iceland

A friend of mine went whale watching from Reykjavik today with Hvalalif and got this fantastic video of a Humpback whale breaching:

 

These are fantastic creatures and great to see these powerful giants play in the sea.

Hjörtur