Iceland: Day 15 - Jökulsarlón

July 9, 2004

The Jökulsá on is a short glacial river, only 1500 m long but very powerful. It drains from the Glacier Lagoon, where icebergs calve from Breiðamerkurjökull, part of the Vatnajökull glacial cap. Cruising among the icebergs is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the whole of Iceland and was sponsored for us by Conrad and Gervaise.

Historically Jökulsá was a major obstacle to travel in the area and many people on foot opted to skirt the side of the glacier instead. A bridge was built in 1966-1967, but is in danger of being eroded by wave action. Due to climate changes and warmer temperatures this area went through great changes after the 1920's. The lagoon, known as Jökulsarlón, began to form between the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier and a glacial ridge by the ocean. The lagoon is very deep (100 m deep) and the greater part of it was formed after 1950. Large icebers have broken off the glacier and these float on the lagoon, making it very impressive.

Anatomy of an iceberg
Usually 1/5th of an iceberg is above the waterline. That part consists of snow, which is not very compact. The ice in the cold core is very compact (and thus relatively heavy) and keeps 4/5th of the iceberg under water. The temperature in the core is constant between -15 and -20ºC. An iceberg that has tumbled over several times, has lost is light snow layers and so the iceberg gets relatively heavier than before so only 1/10th rises above the surface. The icebergs are unstable because the melting process makes them prone to sudden cracking and tumbling in the sea. Blue icebergs are actually perfectly clear, which allows light to pass through. Since ice filters out all colors except blue, the iceberg emits blue light. Icebergs can also appear white (from snow), black (from dirt and soil) and greenish (from algae).

Jökulsarlón and the surrounding area have become a popular tourist spot and have been used as a location for filming movies such as the James Bond film, Die Another Day, and Tomb Raider where Angelina Jolie crosses the glacier in a dog sled. The fifth Batman movie was also being filmed in that area of Iceland in 2004 (towards Skaftafell) and Canadian/Icelandic director Sturla Gunnarsson started production of Beowulf and Grendel in August 2004 in which Canadian actress Sarah Polley will make an appearance in the area between Jökulsarlón and Höfn. And of course, many of you will have seen the first episode of this season's The Amazing Race where the first couple was eliminated after spending hours trying to find an orange buoy among the icebergs of Jökulsarlón. In fact, the guy who was driving their boat was the same guy who brought our tourguide some glacier ice for us to try on our tour!

After our boat tour we walked along the beach where the icebergs float out into the ocean and watched several seals playing in the water.

The icebergs in the lagoon have calved off from the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier and float in the lagoon until they are small enough to be carried out to sea.

Our amphibious boat that will take us cruising on the lagoon.

We head out into the sea of icebergs.

Some of the smaller icebergs we get to see up close.

Larger icebergs we can't get too close to since they could tip or break off unexpectedly.

Just the "tip of the iceberg"...
only about 10% of an iceberg can be seen, the rest is all under the surface of the water.

When an iceberg starts to melt it can get top heavy and tip.

A blue iceberg - these are the densest icebergs with no bubbles so they are clear and let the light pass through. Ice filters all the colours of light except blue so they look blue in the same way the sky does.

The icebergs have beautiful shapes.

The guides also enjoy the icebergs because they change all the time.

This sculped iceberg even has a hole in it!

We stop for the guide to tell us a little bit about the icebergs and the glacier behind them.

The surroundings are quite majestic.

Rubby tries a bit of iceberg ice.

We were told to look out for seals that sometimes play here but all we see are some birds enjoying the sun on an iceberg ledge and two icebergs that kind of look like seals.

That was an awesome boat tour!

At the mouth of the lagoon the icebergs collect until they are melted enough to pass by the river and out to the ocean.

The Ring Road crosses the Jökulsá via this bridge.

Along the ocean, waves have tossed iceberg remnants on the shore and Rubby tries some ice surfing.

We check out the clearness of the ice up close

This iceberg kind of looks like the 2 skuas that are hanging out at the beach.

Finally we get to see the seals!

A starfish has washed up on shore.

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