Grímsvötn, the most active volcano in Iceland erupted again at 1930h on Saturday 21 May 2011. It has erupted 5 times since 1983, the previous event being in 2004. The volcano lies beneath the vast Vatnajokull ice cap and often there is delayed flooding associated with eruptions. None of these eruptions threatened lives or inhabited areas and most are classified as minor eruptions lasting 2 – 14 days. Activity from Grímsvötn is steady after a peak yesterday, the plume now reaching around 10km in height.

The Icelandic authorities have the situation fully under control and whilst there is some disruption to travel at present in Iceland, nobody is in danger and no areas have been evacuated. Considerable amounts of course ash has been deposited along the southeast coast and as a precaution the Ring Road (Route 1) has been closed between Vik and Skaftafell area. The glacial lagoon of Jokulsarlon is also affected.

International and domestic flights have been cancelled and we will continue to monitor events and update as necessary.

1200h 23 May 2011

UPDATE: Keflavik International Airport is scheduled to open later this afternoon.

Obviously with much disruption to travel across Europe Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano is in the spotlight. Just what a bright spotlight it is can be seen in this infra-red image taken overhead by the Earth Observing-1 spacecraft on Saturday 17 April. Ironically the plume has not affected Iceland too much and most internal flights continue undisrupted. Photo couresy of NASA and further images available here .

The International Whaling Commission is meeting in Madeira this week and one of its priorities among the 85 member countries is to find ways to break through the deadlock of polarised views with regards to hunting of whales. Reports commissioned by various interest groups now show that whale watching has doubled in the past decade and as a consequence is of considerable worth to local economies worldwide whilst hunting can be a cost burden on those governments still allowing whaling. Of particular note is Iceland where the outgoing government set a quota of 150 fin whales, none of which would end up in Iceland but would be sold to the East. However whale watching holidays in Iceland continue to be worth more to the economy and the season there is being extended. In Reykjavik the season will to run throughout the year for the first time this year. Clearly whale watching holidays offer a more responsible and sustainable role in a countries economy as well as helping protect whales and oceanic ecosystems.