In fjord Isafjardardjup
401, Ísafjörður
Puffins, eiders, guillemoths and arctic terns are this
island’s magnets, and they are all abundant. Indeed, as the puffins, which nest
in burrows, have dug through much of the island’s soil, travellers have to
follow a certain path to avoid falling into one. This small bird, by some
dubbed the penguin of the north, is a clumsy flier but impresses visitors by
artfully stacking its beak full of sand eel or small fish, carrying it home to
its hungry chicks. Being the opposite of the hospitable humans that live on the
island, the Arctic terns fight to keep intruders away. Luckily, a stick held
above the head does the trick. Eiders and humans share a mutual beneficence;
eiders get protecion by nesting in close vicinity of the people, who collect
the precious down from the eider nests. One of the every day event is when
locals feed a group of orphan eider chicks. In Vigur you find the smallest post
office in Iceland, as well as the only windmill and beautifully renewed
houses. Since an end was put to milk
production on Vigur island, the
inhabitants spend much of the winter preparing the eider down, collected over
the summer, for export.
To get to Vigur, there is a daily boat tour from Ísafjörður.