When staying in Iceland I got to see some animals that I've never seen before and some that I have seen. The first time I saw a puffin at Vestmannaeyjar, I was genuinely surprised at how small they really are. My first time seeing them was seeing them from afar in the ocean near the coast of Vestmannaeyjar. They looked like little black dots from where I was at. The next day we visited a black sand beach near the town of Vik where I got to see another puffin up close. The puffin was really small and almost looked like a penguin that can fly, however the puffins wings are small making them put a lot of work into flying. Not only did I see puffins at Vestmannaeyjar but I also saw sheep that inhabited the area. There must have been at least thirty sheep where we were. The sheep walked up to us being curious on what we were doing. There was a mom and two baby sheep that came up to us where I was able to get some nice close up shots of them. Their wool was incredibly fluffy and white. There was a sheep that had long wool that stretched across the ground that looked like it hadn't been trimmed in years and its wool wasn’t as soft as some of the other sheep. The wool looked frizzy and kinda unkept. On the road we visited a farm where they had three horses that we were able to feed. The horse was beautiful. The mane of the horse was blonde and long. Seeing the horse I photographed it and turned the photo to black and white. On day three we went whale watching, which I had never done before. When out on the boat I got to see some dolphins in the water and saw at least three whales in the ocean. Seeing them was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. When photographing the whales they were pretty big. I even captured some images of its tail up out of the water. It was a majestic sight to see and unforgettable. When we were at some of the beaches we came across a bird that originally I thought was a puffin however they were oystercatchers. Oystercatchers have the same color scheme as a puffin with black and white feathers and an orange beak which is why originally I got confused about them. They can be seen all around Iceland near the shores. On day seven we went to the glacier lagoon where we saw some seals. The lagoon is not only known for the glaciers but also the seals that inhabit the area to call home. The seals there were very cute. I’ve never seen a seal before and seeing them for the first time made me excited. When at glacier lagoon I learned that they live at the lagoon because it's a safe area from predators like killer whales. The seals were near the shore when I was visiting. They were poking their heads out of the water making such an adorable sight. In Iceland I saw these birds which I thought were ducks but were called Common Loon and aren’t ducks at all. I was researching them and apparently loons are not a part of the duck family and are part of their own family. I found this interesting because I thought that what I was seeing were ducks but it was a different animal that I’ve never heard of and seen before. Iceland was an incredible place that had many animals that inhabit the area. Though there are probably many more animals that I haven’t seen in Iceland such as the reindeer, I hope one day I revisit Iceland to see all that it has to offer either if it’s with my family or for a job in photography.
To learn more about the wildlife at Iceland visit https://www.nordicvisitor.com/blog/iceland-animals-wildlife/
