Wildlife

The Arctic fox is the only truly native land mammal in Iceland. It got stranded on the island after the last Ice Age and lived on birds, bird eggs, berries, seaweed and all sorts of other stuff. Over the millennia the Icelandic Arctic fox has become genetically unique: the Vulpes lagopus fuliginosus subspecies. They are white in winter and grey in summer. The Hornstrandir nature reserve in the Westfjords is the only place in Iceland where the Arctic fox is completely protected from hunting; which means they are a common sight and unusually tame. 

One of Europes biggest bird cliffs, a home to birds in unfathomable numbers. This westernmost point of Iceland is really a line of several cliffs, 14 kilometres long and up to 441 m high. And it’s as steep as it gets, dizzyingly so. Safe from foxes, the birds are fearless, and provide stunning photographic opportunities from close range. Bird photography for dummies, you might say. The puffins are particularly tame and are the ones frequenting the grassy, higher part of the cliffs. But look out, the edges are fragile and loose and the fall is high.Látrabjarg is thus deservedly the most visited tourist attraction in the Westfjords. The cliffs are easily accessible by car and when you’re there, a walk along the cliffs awaits. The whirling sensation will not fade, and neither will the memories.

Two species of seal can be seen consitently throughout the Westfjords area. The "land-seal" is the most popular one and can be seen all around the Westfjords during all seasons. It is common to see them along the shoreline, often lying upon a flat rock enjoying the sun. Sometimes you can se them in the sea close to shore, curiously looking at what is happing on land.The "Utselur" (eng. deep sea seal) is more difficult to spot as it stays off shore for longer periods. It is bigger than the "landseal", 2,5m and weighing over 300kg.More species of seals can been seen around the Westfjords although they are not as common as those mentioned above. Long ago a walrus was spotted on shore in the Westfjords, but that is a very uncommon sight here nowadays.Seals are generally lying at the shoreline during low tide, as they are out hunting during hightide. Wind and sun condition can also affect how they gather at the shoreline, decresing the oppertunity of seeing some seals.

Vigur is one of three islands in Ísafjarðardjúp. The island is long an narrow and gets its name from the shape, Vigur means spear. The island's unique wildlife has been a popular tourist attraction.  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.  In Vigur you find the smallest post office in Iceland, as well as the only windmill and beautifully renewed houses.  To get to Vigur, there is a daily boat tour from Ísafjörður.

Around 20 species of whale can be found in the sea surrounding the country but the most common are the beaked whale, the hump-backed whale, dolphins and a few others. Whale watching is an incredible experience for people of all ages.