He and a half-dozen other men have traveled to Iceland’s far north from the Westman Island of Heimaey (population around 4,500), about 10 kilometers off Iceland’s south coast. Hilmarsson, a fisherman from the other end of the country, is on a seabird quest. It’s balmy for the Arctic on this July day, and Árni Hilmarsson relaxes outside in jeans and a wool sweater. And they cluster on the tarmac, erupting in clouds when planes ferrying day-trippers circle in. Birds nestle in sea cliffs, brood in wildflower-filled meadows, patrol rocky burrows, and raft on the cold North Atlantic waters. Thousands and thousands of kittiwakes, puffins, Arctic terns, and more transform Grímsey into a bird nursery bustling under the constant light of the midnight Sun. In the brief high North summer, the island belongs to seabirds.
It’s home to some 70 residents, with one street, a tiny grocery store, a slash of airstrip roughly a third the length of the island, and a signpost pointing to the 66☃3’ N parallel, across which tourists drive golf balls into the Arctic. This eyebrow of land 40 kilometers above the mainland crosses the Arctic Circle. Article body copyĪ wheel of wings spins around Grímsey Island, Iceland’s northernmost outpost. Listen now, download, or subscribe to “Hakai Magazine Audio Edition” through your favorite podcast app. This article is also available in audio format.
Puffin hunting download#
Stream or download audio For this article Janu| 3,700 words, about 19 minutes Share this article Photo by Carsten Egevang/ The Uncertain Future of Puffin for Dinner Hunting and eating puffins are Icelandic traditions. As his ancestors have done for generations, Icelander Árni Hilmarsson catches an Atlantic puffin in a net called a háfur.
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