on july 18, 2024, four planet forward storyfest winners embarked on a 10-day circumnavigation of iceland, where they discovered unique and powerful stories to tell. the students were joined by dr. imani m. cheers, director of academic adventures at planet forward and elena mantilla, program coordinator and assistant editor. aboard the national geographic explorer with lindblad expeditions, they engaged with naturalists and photographers, who shared their expertise on marine life, geology and the history of iceland.

after boarding the ship in reykjavík, the crew set off to explore the westfjords region for a few days, where they stumbled upon the tallest waterfall any of them had seen, dynjandi.

as the ship moved around the island, they stopped at the towns of siglufjörður and húsavík, where the students witnessed a herring salting demonstration at the earlier stop and later explored lake mývatn to the south.

they journeyed through the waves up to the island of grímsey, where they entered the arctic circle. finally, the boardwalk at the fjord, borgarfjörður eystri brought the most immersive puffin sighting of all, where students were close enough to have staring contests with the thousands of puffins around them.

just when the sights couldn’t get more beautiful, the most wonderful surprise came. one afternoon on the ship, the voice of expedition leader michael jackson emerged over the speakers notifying everyone aboard that there was a pod of killer whales at the ship’s bow. guests jumped out of their seats and raced to the front of the ship, bursting out the door to climb the stairs to the top deck. there was one dorsal fin, then two, then many more surrounding the ship.

“ooohs” and “ahhs” filled the ocean air as guides shared facts about these animals, including how their dorsal fins, saddle patches and eye patches can be used to identify individual whales. suddenly, a creature much larger than the orcas broke the surface in the middle of the pod. a humpback! guests gasped in unison as they heard the voice of their expedition leader again.

more humpbacks popped up out of the water as the group journeyed onward having seen over 20 killer whales and at least four humpbacks. it was easy to tell how special and rare of a sighting this was, as the captain of the ship and the naturalists themselves could hardly believe what they were seeing.

whether it was this once-in-a-lifetime moment, or engaging interviews with scientists, or the quiet reflection as they gazed over fields of lupine, the students lit up at each new sight and experience.

iceland is rich with beauty and offers so much for us to learn from, and the students took every opportunity to ask crucial questions, take photographs of numerous “oh wow” moments, and begin to craft the compelling stories that they came to tell. the planet forward team is so grateful to have had this vibrant experience and we cannot wait for you to see what the students are working on.

editor’s note: lindblad expeditions, our planet forward storyfest competition partner, made this series possible by providing winners with an experiential learning opportunity aboard one of their ships. we thank lindblad expeditions for their support of our project.