This week Iolo arrives at the Faroe Islands; these islands are between Norway and Iceland. There are around 47,000 people living here and these islands are very important nesting places.
Jens – Kjeld Jenson has been studying the storm petrel birds for many years. Iolo helps Jens prepare traps to catch these birds. They are very noisy birds and they only come out at night because seagulls eat them during the day.
Iolo leaves the Faroe Islands and travels across the sea to Iceland. The land here is very volcanic because there are volcanoes here. There are more geysers in Iceland than in any other country in the world.
The ice in Iceland thaws in the summer and this creates waterfalls. Iolo goes to see the famous Godafoss waterfall. There’s a lot of water running over this waterfall and the land trembles underneath your feet.
Iolo goes to Leitahraun lava field to see where lava flows have created a cave. Iolo talks to local man, Kari Bjornsson here about the caves.
Iolo is in Iceland during the summer and the stalactites in the cave are stalactites out of ice. You can see the remains of lava clear here.
Iolo and the team go to see the life under water at Eyjafjardur Bay. The water’s very hot here because it comes from a volcanic vent under the sea bed. Iolo looks at the chimneys which carries hot water from the depth of the earth.
Iolo also looks at the birds that live in Iceland, birds like the goldeneye duck. He also looks at the whooper swan; you can see these birds in Wales during the winter in places like Glaslyn River near Porthmadog.
In Thingvellir National Park there’s a special pool which is in a crack; at one side of the crack there’s America’s continental plate and on the other side there’s Europe’s continental plate. These plates move very slowly. Here the water is very cold and very clear.
Then Iolo travels on a boat to look for whales. He sees whales like the fin whale, the humpback whale and also the blue whale. The blue whale is the biggest animal in the world.
Iolo reaches the end of his journey on a small island called Grimsey which is in the Arctic Circle. Here Iolo watches birds like the snow bunting. He’s a very beautiful bird and during the winter you can see the snow bunting in Wales on Rhyl beach.
