Of those unique Icelandic animals, puffins are the cutest. It is the first bird that you will like at first sight, looking like a dazed penguin, with a black back and a snow-white belly. In the spring, the beak becomes brightly colored and resembles a parrot, so it is named "puffin". Interestingly, puffins and penguins are not relatives and are not related to parrots.
puffin
From Reykjavik, pass by a puffin island and meet puffins in the sea. They are like little penguins flying, flapping their wings with high frequency, diving into the water at a certain moment, and when they reappear, they are full of harvest and have a lot of fish hanging in their mouths. I'm ashamed to say that such a cute little bird, I have tasted it. In Iceland, sheep testicles are eaten, shark meat even if poisonous also find a way to belly, in order to survive, Icelanders do not eat animals, puffin is naturally Icelandic national dish, the common practice is smoked puffin breast meat. Nowadays, the aftertaste is similar to chicken, but it is not very tasty.
According to scientists, about sixty percent of the world's puffins come to Iceland in the summer to breed, with the Largest number of Western Islands, with four million. Compared to the local five thousand inhabitants, the number of puffins is staggering. It's not easy to see puffins with their own eyes, and they usually roost on cliffs or hunt on the surface of the sea. I read the Bensi Island brochure that mentioned that there was a local museum with a puffin that thought it was human. For this reason, I went to Westman Island to take a look at the famous puffin.
Puffin photographed on Westman Island
Wester Island is windy all year round, and that day was no exception. Get off the coach and change to a ferry at the pier. The tourists on board vomited and looked pale. Although I didn't throw up, I was dizzy, and after getting off the boat, I walked unsteadily and almost fell. When I saw this puffin named "Totti", the boat and cart labor disappeared. The museum staff put it on my shoulder, there was no weight, but I could feel the little guy bouncing around, not very settled. Then came a tall thin woman, and Totti saw it, jumped to the ground, followed her, staggered, and took small steps out of the room. The staff explained to me that Totti was injured when she was found, grew up under the care of a tall thin woman, treated her as a mother, lived with humans, and over time, Totti also thought of herself as a human being. Shortly after leaving Westman Island, I was planning to go again, but I was shocked to see the news of Totti's death in the newspaper.
Migratory birds visitIng Iceland, in addition to puffins, there are also Arctic terns. They are simply legendary among birds, traveling between the North pole and the South Pole every year, and according to statistics, each Arctic tern has a lifetime migration flight distance of 760,000 kilometers, which is equivalent to going from the earth to the moon, and it is a one-to-one trip.
Arctic terns
Actually seeing an Arctic tern, unbelievable, an Arctic tern petite and cute, weighing no more than a mobile phone, crimson fins, a forked tail, like a butterfly spreading its wings. Arctic terns arrive in Iceland in the summer, set off at the end of the day, head south, take a short break in antarctica and then turn back to the north. Science magazine poetically describes the Arctic Tern as the only animal on Earth that spends most of its time in the bright summer, a stubborn guy born to reject darkness.
Walking in Iceland in the summer, Arctic terns are everywhere, although they look pleasing and praiseworthy, but their personalities are not very good. I've seen a group of tourists hiking in the countryside with a guide, each holding up a long stick, looking like a group of madmen from a distance, but there is no other way not to be pecked at by Arctic terns. In early summer, in order to protect their territory, the Arctic terns before spawning will threaten passers-by, expressing their dissatisfaction in a swooping manner, screaming "Gram-ria!" K-Ria! K-Ria! (The Icelandic name Kria for Arctic terns is derived from this.) The bird is born, the attack escalates, pecks at the top of the head, and immediately sees blood. At this time, an inconspicuous stick can save lives, because the Arctic tern only attacks the highest part of the opponent.
Swooping Arctic terns
Finally, let's talk about polar bears. Every ten years, a Greenland polar bear sits on an iceberg and accidentally drifts to Landfall in Iceland. But the polar bears were hungry for too long, their stomachs empty, and the government had to shoot them to protect their residents. So in Iceland, except for polar bears made into specimens, there is no living one anywhere.
There have been oolong incidents. Tourists called Iceland's national news station to claim to have seen polar bears while fishing, so the government sent helicopters to patrol for two days, but found no trace of polar bears, which caused panic. Tourists only clarified that he was a nearsighted eye, forgot to wear glasses that day, saw a white thing moving, and thought it was a polar bear.
Haha, he may have seen a sheep wandering around the island and enjoying loneliness.