#heimay

ORCA off Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland Orcinus orca Top photo: ©rebeccabakker Bottom Photo mom and calf: ©Laura Quick

Please Note: Images are created and research is carried out under an institutional permit of the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Iceland. Icelandic Orca Project (@icelandic.orcas) and WhaVe (@whave.iceland)

I was fortunate to spend two weeks during the summer of 2019 in Iceland with Earthwatch on the Icelandic Orca Project. This is not my video but it’s similar to my experience off the Westman Islands. We were fortunate to have flat seas so we could take the dinghy for out several days, and in addition to orcas, we saw a blue whale, pilot whales, minke whales, white sided dolphins. At the land station there were many species of sea birds, my favorite were the puffins.

LUMPSUCKER or LUMPFISH Cyclopterus lumpus ©Laura Quick

While I had hoped to see them swimming aimlessly around, the lumpfish, true to form were suitably, well, lumpy. They are kind of cute in their own way. This one, is bluish in color and lives at the Sea Life Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary / Sæheimar Aquarium in Heimay, on the Vestmannaeyjar in Iceland.

Lumpfish generally have bodies that are ball-like. They have a knobbly, ridged back and three large bony tubercles on each flank. Their pelvic fins form suction discs which it uses to attach strongly to rocks or other surfaces. The head and the pectoral fins of males are larger than those of females. It has a jelly-like layer of fat under the skin. Its color is highly variable; bluish as this one, greyish in the link below, olive, yellowish or brownish. Mature males turn orange-reddish during the breeding season.

Other posts you might like:

Pacific Spiny Lumpfish

Grey Lumpfish

Lumpsucker

ATLANTIC PUFFINS Fratercula arctica Heimay, Westman Islands, Iceland ©Laura Quick

Fun Facts:

Nicknamed “sea parrots” – and sometimes “clowns of the sea“ – Atlantic puffins have black and white feathers and a large parrot-like beak. They are small seabirds measuring around 10″ or 25cm in length.

Puffins spend most of their lives out at sea, resting on the waves when not swimming. Their range spans the eastern coast of Canada and the United States to the western coast of Europe.

A puffin’s beak (or bill) changes color during the year. In winter, the beak has a dull grey color, but in spring it blooms with an outrageous orange! It’s thought that the bright color helps puffins assess potential mates.

Puffins are carnivores and live off small fish such as herring, hake & sand eels.

Puffins are fab flyers, flapping their wings up to 400 times a minute and speeding through the air at up to 88km an hour.

What’s more, these brilliant birds are great swimmers, too! Using their webbed feet as a rudder, puffins can dive down 60m under water in search of their favorite fish. Source

Other posts you might like:

Puffin Portrait

Puffin Funny Walk