Particularities of the islands

Puffins (Lundinn) are considered a good feed! The eggs of sea birds are gathered from the thousands of cliff-side nests with the help of practised rock-climbing and abseiling skills. Puffin hunting is of major importance in Vestmannaeyjar, but an unwritten rule requires that only young or non-breeding puffins are to be taken. In August, after the adult puffins have stopped feeding them, the juveniles, driven by hunger, leave their rocky nests in seach of food. In Heimaey, thousands of the clumsy birds descend toward the lights of the town and land. On such evenings, the children of Heimaey hurry around with boxes gathering the unfortunate birds. They take them home and pamper them overnight to set them free the next morning.
Surtsey, 18km from Heimaey, was named for the Norse god Surtur, the one appointed to set fire to the earth the day the gods fall. Thanks to film, the world witnessed Surtsey's birth in 1963. Belching and spewing its way out of the sea, it sent a column of ash nearly 10'000m into the atmosphere. Eruptions continued and, by 1967, Surtsey had reached a height of 150m and an area of 3 sq km. Scientists currently studying colonisation of volcanic islands have placed the island off-limits to visitors. It's the far away island on the photo.