Grundarfjörður

A Cattle Egret was spotted west of Ólafsvíkurenni on Iceland’s Snæfellsnes peninsula, a very rare occurrence. A bird expert links increasing appearances of southern species in Iceland to climate change.

This event follows a series of deep earthquakes, the last comparable one occurring on April 23, and while no eruption has taken place in nearly a millennium, experts warn these movements could signal deeper volcanic processes.

In West and Southwest Iceland, rainfall has been less than 10% of the average for July and early August. Rivers and streams have been shrinking and even drying up entirely following several weeks with little to no rainfall in Iceland.

2020 was the second most successful year on record for Iceland’s sea eagles. Currently there are 85 breeding pairs—mostly around the Breiðafjörður area. This year, there have been 51 eaglets from 60 nests.

Fifty pilot whales were found dead on the shore of Löngufjörur in a sparsely populated part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula on Thursday, RÚV reports.

If climate change continues at its current pace, the famous Snæfellsjökull glacier in West Iceland will be all-but completely gone by 2050.

Lobster stocks around Iceland’s coast are so low a fishing ban is not out of the question.

Pilot whales are abyssal creatures, usually spending their lives far away from land. It is not known for sure why the whales drift ashore but they might be confused when they encounter shallows on their swims.

An Icelandic geophysicist says ice loss in a cave on Snæfellsjökull is likely due to climate warming, not imminent volcanic activity. Usual eruption precursors like earthquakes and ground deformation are not present.