10 Our Icelandic Adventure

Our Icelandic Adventure We never know where Wind Rider will take us next! This time we visited Iceland, which lies in the cold waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. It's a rocky island nation with lava fields, volcanoes, and hot springs (pools of water that are naturally heated by underground volcanic activity). Plenty of animals live there, from Atlantic puffins nesting on high cliffs to fluffy arctic foxes that hunt inland to beluga whales, which travel in groups called pods in the surrounding seas. Iceland has banned single-use plastics to help fight pollution and keep its beaches clean.

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Sofia's Animal Facts We loved seeing Atlantic puffins, with their amazing colorful beaks and big orange feet... and we got up close to a beluga whale, too! Here are my top facts about puffins and beluga whales. Atlantic puffins are sometimes called the penguins of the north, sea parrots, or even clowns of the sea.

Those beautiful beaks actually change color throughout the year. They are dull gray in winter, then turn bright orange and yellow in spring!

Beluga whales are among the smallest types of whale. They have bumpy foreheads and are sometimes called white whales because of their color. Beluga whales are great communicators. They make chirps, clicks, and whistles to talk to each other, and they can also mimic sounds!

While puffins and beluga whales are not endangered right now, they do face some threats, such as pollution of the seas with plastic and oil spills, sound pollution, which makes it difficult for belugas to communicate, and overfishing, which is when people take so much fish from the sea that there's not enough left for animals to feed on.