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Haelavikurbjarg

Region: Westfjords
Coordinates: 66.4121° N 22.4899° W

Haelavikurbjarg

Haelavikurbjarg (258 m) is a precipice, occupied by thousands of birds between the coves Haelavik and Hornvik. It was named after a freestanding rock in the sea just off the coast.

Sagas of Iceland At its foot is a scree, where 18 English men were buried by a landslide, when they were poaching for eggs and birds. It was consequently named Heljarurd (The Scree of Death). Above the brink is a depression in the landscape called Hvannadalur and that part of the cliff is called Hvannadalabjarg. Just outside it, in the sea, are three freestanding basalt dykes, Langikambur, Fjol and Sulnastapi.

The cove Haelavik is to the west of the cliff and on its other side is Mt Skalakambur. The cove is mostly framed with cliffs and has a small lowland strip. People lived there until til middle of the 20th century. In 1321 a polar bear attacked the inhabitants and killed 8 people.

On May 2nd, 2011, at 9 O’clock a.m., the captain of a fishing boat reported the sighting of a polar bear at cove Haelavik, and that it had disappeared into the fog in the surrounding slopes. There were no travellers in the area at the time, but search and rescue services prevented a group of people from going there until the problem had been solved. The weather conditions improved and a helicopter could track the bear to cove Rekavik, where it was shot about five hours after it was spotted. It was a 3-4 years old she-bear weighing about 150 kilogrammes.

Haelavikurbjarg is on nat.is Saga Trail Hornstrandir

Haelavikurbjarg in Icelandic