“I’m sure, you’re the first Slovene that’s ever done this!” What did I do that was so special my hostess was sure I was the first Slovene to had done it?
Each day in Seyðisfjörður was special. From the town itself and the colourful houses, meeting new people and basically the whole town in a single night, “family” lunches, discovering the town’s art culture, solo hikes to the surrounding mountains and the miraculous birds to getting used to the day that lasted 20 hours, text messages, such as “The sauna is ready, are you coming?”, and the bonfire on the beach in the midnight sun, the geese that would chase you when you went for a walk, the little lambs everywhere around you... And, of course, the joy of experiencing the special Icelandic tradition that creates a very special bond with nature!
Well, in Iceland as well as in other regions in the Arctic Circle, it’s meant literally during summer. A day in July is about 20 hours long. In the night hours, I missed the Venetian blinds we had back at home. I didn’t notice them anywhere in Iceland. The only thing that would darken the room were curtains. I learned to appreciate the night sky and the stars more, as well as admire the midnight sun and the beautiful light at a time when my brain was used to darkness.
My first adventure was a solo hike along the scenic Neðri-Stafur trail. It’s a path that follows the Fjardara river, which winds through the fjord valley between the Strandartindur and Bjolfur mountains all the way to the town. The very first day I got there by car, I told myself that I’d go on a hike there and take time to meditate at the top of one of the waterfalls. Surrounded by mountains, with a view of the town and accompanied by the hum of the river. I can’t think of anything better. Instead of about two hours it would take me going at my normal pace, I walked more, let’s say meditatively. It took me five hours for me to get back to the valley. The trail wound along the waterfalls, I could hear the sound of an interesting bird every now and then, the embrace of the snowy mountains supported me and the view of Seyðisfjörður in the valley inspired me. I stopped for a long while at the tallest waterfall – Gufufoss. I’ll post the videos on my Instagram profile sometime in the future (they capture the energy of the place much better than the photos do!). The photos also show the wetness of my shoes evolving. That’s because there are lots of small streams you have to cross and sometimes you even have to jump over, which makes it all more interesting. The walk took me to the oldest operational hydroelectric power plant in Iceland, which was built in 1913. When I came back, the large table in the hostel was already full of scrumptious food!
The adventure I looked forward to every day was our big “family’s” lunch and dinner time. There were at least seven people sitting at the table, almost everyone from a different country. From Icelanders, the French, the Slovaks, the Poles, the Slovenes (yes, I met another Slovene who lives there!)... I usually helped with cooking (which is something I really enjoy) or made lunch or dinner for everyone together with my new friend from France! Not a single day went by without laughter and mumbling about how good the food was.
And so came a day when my hostess mentioned “eiderdown” for the first time. Eider is a species of bird, a large sea duck that lives on the northern coasts of Eurasia. It’s the only duck species in Iceland and depends on the sea throughout the whole year. It nests by the water (rivers and the ocean), but takes the ducklings to the sea right after they hatch.
It uses its down, pulling it from underneath its sturdier chest feathers, to make the nest, isolating it and keeping the eggs warm. It broods the eggs for about 28 days!
And what’s so special about the eider?
Its down is one of the lightest and softest natural materials known and, at the same time, it protects from extreme cold and is resistant to compression!
To me, acquiring the down for use is currently the most sustainable practice of co-existence between the “modern” human and nature. And I had the opportunity to experience it! I was there just when eiders were nesting (which they did for only four weeks)! And no, not a single bird was harmed while harvesting the down. No, there’s no bird living in captivity!
Co-existence looks something like this:
Without these farmers, the eider population would’ve shrunk considerably due to predators. It would even become endangered, mostly due to the invasive alien species – the polecats, which were brought to the island in the 1930s for the production of fur. It’s the complete opposite of the industry that uses animals in a non-ethical way that’s also harmful for the environment. And what is this down used for? More about it later.
After Þora first mentioned harvesting eiderdown, I wanted to experience it myself and asked her about it. She made a call and said: “You can join them in three days. I dare say you’ll be the first Slovene to have ever helped harvest eiderdown.”
It was a hot summer day (for Iceland) and I was waiting outside the hostel, all geared up. They came to pick me up and we drove to the end of the fjord. I met the landowner there and two other young local girls. They explained everything to me, about eiders and the farm at the end of the fjord, which was also a stop for researchers, as well as about crossing rivers by car.
In Slovenia, we’re used to cross rivers over bridges. Despite our country being very water-rich, we don’t cross rivers in jeeps. Since rivers tend to be rather unstable, we built bridges where necessary. It’s different in Iceland. The river systems there change all the time and sometimes you can spot big bridges on the ring road, which aren’t used anymore, since the river changed its course. Well, it was definitely something special. In order to cross a river, you need certain knowledge and have to be familiar with the weather conditions. You need to know how to read the language of the natural environment, as it might so happen that you cross the river, but once you get back and try to cross it again, you’re stuck, as the current is now too strong.
When we arrived at the farm, it was like paradise. The sun was shining in all its glory and there, on the ground, among thick undergrowth, were small ducks, nesting. The tips of the surrounding mountains were covered in snow and we could enjoy the view of the fjord, the black cliffs and the open sea. Arctic terns were flying above in circles, watching their nests. That very day researchers, with the help of satellite imagery and data gathered by drones and analysed with computer modelling, were studying a newly discovered historical site nearby. Just when we arrived they came outside and all of them held sticks in their hands, holding them above their heads. Only one of them had no sticks.
It was there that I first saw an “attack” of an Arctic tern. The victim was the person without sticks above their head. Terns fly above their nests (they nest on the ground) and defend them if you step anywhere close. They start attacking you from above. And it’s really easy to step close to a nest, as the birds nest in large colonies. The entire area, where we were, was surrounded by nesting terns.
I therefore learned the security protocol: always wear a cap and, if possible, also a hood. Hold a stick in one hand and hold it raised above your head. But also mind where you’re going, so you don’t step on the small Arctic tern eggs. A lot of Icelanders, especially the “city folk”, are very scared of these birds. I learned about them, familiarised myself with their behaviour and was already able to walk around without a stick (they didn’t attack me) by mid-day, since I respected the birds and acted in a way so they didn’t feel threatened (but heeded the advice and kept my cap on).
In addition to the protective equipment there was also the equipment necessary for harvesting eiderdown. It included the Bónus bag (if you ever visit Iceland, you’ll know what I’m talking about), flags which you use to mark a nest, gloves, large stakes to mark nests in the underbrush and a nest counter. And we were ready.
There were four of us girls. In two teams. We marked the terrain. Each team was in charge of its own part of the area. We marked the nest as we went with flags (so they remained visible for the next time) and counted them. We only harvested the down around the eggs and replaced it with straw. We talked to each bird that was sitting in the nest and asked it if it would allow us to take a few feathers. If the bird didn’t move, we let it be. Sometimes, we even got startled, as the birds would blend in with the ground so well, we didn’t notice them at all and, suddenly, a couple of them would fly from the ground just ten centimetres from us. In order to protect their eggs from predators, eiders spray them with their faeces before they leave the nest. So, you really need to be careful and wear two pairs of gloves, otherwise you won’t be able to get rid of the smell for days (and I’m telling you that from personal experience, ha-ha).
Yes, the down is used for high-quality products. This includes duvets of the highest quality and, due to its special characteristics and its rarity on the market, the price can reach from 4,000 to 14,000 euros, depending on the size! The same goes for hiking equipment of the highest quality. 75 per cent of all down comes from Iceland.
When the day was almost over, I finally took off my gloves and held the down in my bare hands. Wow! It was so soft and warm, as if I wasn’t even holding anything! I put my hand in a small pile of down and immediately felt the warmth.
I’ll always remember this connection to the ducks and harvesting their down. I talked to every single one of them and thanked them, and I even petted one.
If you’re interested in the history and want to learn more about the eiders and their down, you can read all about it in this article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/19/eiderdown-harvesting-iceland-eider-duck.
Birds have had a very special place in my life for a couple of years now. From the month I spent in Malta as a sixteen-year-old girl and did a traineeship at Bird Park Malta, to the moment I decided to become a CABS activist – Committee Against Bird Slaughter and spent some time in Cyprus where we fought against bird poaching, to raptors constantly following me wherever in Slovenia I was (even in Ljubljana). And now these experiences in Iceland!
P. S. Someday, I’ll also share the story how one of them literally saved me when I got “lost” in Iceland’s mountains!
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