Iceland: Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon (Revisited)
This is the world famous glacier lagoon popularized by the action scenes from James Bond “Die Another Day”. A bar of land separates the glacier lagoon from the ocean, allowing the salt water to come in at high tide and keep it from freezing. A massive glacier feeds thousands of icebergs, big and small, into the lagoon. The best way to explore is by a an inflatable rib boat that navigates the entire circumference of the lagoon and comes within just feet of the glacier wall. It’s a truly incredible sight everywhere you look – spectacular mountains and glaciers in the distance, and seals basking themselves on icebergs right in front of your boat (next post). The nutrient rich water brings a lot of fish into the lagoon, that in turn brings a lot of birds. Jokulsarlon is Iceland’s deepest lake at over 284 m (932 ft) deep. The glacier retreat has increased 5x in the last 30 years. Interestingly, for the filming of James Bond, they had to dam the lagoon to block the salty sea water and let the entire thing freeze so that Aston Martins could speed and spin over it.
