Wolfgang's photos with the keyword: Skaftafell

A seal presents itself for a short moment.

Salmon, capelin and herring enter the lagoon and the harbour seals follow the food. Common eider ducks are very common on the lagoon.

You cannot stop enjoying one of the nicest views you could imagine.

Glacier Lagoon is a famous tourist attraction, and has been seen by more people than other Icelandic sites, but that is due to a part of a James Bond film, Die another day, being filmed there.

The colours and shapes of the Jökulsárlón are astounding its one of the greatest natural wonders in Iceland, travelling in this dreamlike world, dwarfed by the calving icebergs, man marvels at the majestic magnitude of nature. An August sight we could never get enough of.

The steep glacier tongue Fjallsarjokull and the big, flat one Breidamerkurjokull were merged until 1946 in front of the nunatak Mt. Breidamerkurfjall.

The lagoon's surface has been lowered almost to sea level and sea water enters with the tides, increasing the water temperature.

Prior to 1950 the 1½ km long course of the glacial river Jokulsa was uninterrupted by any lagoon. Since then the glacier tongue has retreated and a lagoon, gradually increasing in area, was created. The average flow of the river is 250-300 m³/sec. and the edge of the glacier snout floats on the water. It calves into the lagoon and icebergs of different sizes can be seen aground and melting rather quickly.

It's the best known and the largest of a number of glacial lakes in Iceland. It is situated at the south end of the glacier Vatnajökull between Skaftafell National Park and Höfn. Appearing first only in 1934-1935, the lake grew from 7.9 km² in 1975 to at least 18 km² today because of heavy melting of the Icelandic glaciers. Approaching a depth of 200 m, Jökulsárlón is now probably the second deepest lake in Iceland.

Jökulsárlón is separated from the sea by only a short distance, and the combined action of the glacier, the river that empties from the lake, and the ocean may eventually transform it into an inlet of the sea. There are plans to prevent this from happening, since the only road in the area passes over the narrow isthmus.

Weather conditions change quickly without any anticipated signs. We returned under dark clouds from the Svinafellsjökull glacier. Svínafellsjökull competes with Sólheimajökull for the country’s most popular glacier for hiking but listen the weather forecast, heavy weather often can get an obstacle.

A sad obit displayed into a rock along the track. Its also a serious warning to every body not to be risky and not to do the tour without an experienced tour guide.