Iceland Whaling

There is an astonishing relationship between man and the cormorant. In China the bird is used for fishing, in Peru its droppings are used as fertilizer and in Iceland it can be found on the supper table. In the Galapagos it lives in harmony with nature and has abandoned flying.

Water is one of the most amazing substances on earth. It contradicts almost all of the rules of physics and chemistry. For instance, it has the unique characteristic of expanding and growing lighter when it becomes solid. All other substances grow heavier upon turning solid and contract as the temperature decreases. This is what causes ice to float on top of water, instead of collecting on the bottom, which makes all the difference for aquatic life and in fact for all life on earth. In addition, water has the highest specific heat of any substance, which makes it a superb heat reservoir and heat equaliser. Without water, the earth would be a desert because of fluctuations in heat.

A documentary about the miraculous survival of an Icelandic fisherman, after his boat sank off the shores of the Westman Islands in mid winter. All the crew drowned except one, Gudlaugur Fridthórsson, who swam five and a half kilometers in the ice cold sea and then walked barefoot over a field of sharp lava to reach help. Specialists have made tests on Gudlaugur to determine how he managed to survive seven times longer than any ordinary man under these conditions.

The film begins in the early hours of the morning of January 23rd 1973. A mile long fissure had ripped itself open on the outskirt of the fishing village on Heimaey, a small island of the Vestmannaeyjar group, off the South Coast of Iceland. Glowing ash and molten lava was spewed over the sleeping town. We see the evacuation of the 500 inhabitants, both by air and by sea. We witnes unbelievable scenes of bellowing craters, flowing lava, burning and collapsing buildings. We learn of the agony and uncertainty of people made homeless, and of the measures taken by the Civil Defence to deal with a disaster of an enormity rarely faced by so small a nation.

This film is about the traditional puffin catch in the Westman Islands and shows the fowlers in action, often performing breathtaking feats in the soaring cliffs to accomplish their goal. Ancient hunting techniques are shown, and the extreme dangers that men faced to secure their livelihood. These techniques have passed on basically unchanged from generation to generation.