Island Journal

Arctic Observations

Last summer, photographer and Island Institute co-founder Peter Ralston boarded a friend's yacht just above the Arctic Circle on the west coast of Greenland to explore that area, as well as the heart of the high Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It was the trip of a lifetime among some of the world's most remote islands, offering a front-row seat in the planet's most dramatic theater of rapid climate change... After our first stop in Greenland at Qassiarsuk, where the temperature on July 25 was a near-record 72˚F, SY Rosehearty visited a couple of Greenland’s smaller ports before dropping the hook off Ilulissat, home of the northern hemisphere’s fastest moving glacier, the Jakobshavn. Our proximity to Big Ice here set the stage for our upcoming month of constant exposure to unexpected indicators of climate change. SEE MORE

waterfalls and pointy mountain in Iceland

Island Journal

Fire & Ice

Maine’s connections to the North Atlantic island nation of Iceland are stronger than you might think. Eimskip—Iceland’s oldest shipping company, which operates around the globe—is based in Reykjavík. Portland is Eimskip’s only US-based port. Last fall, a delegation from Iceland visited Portland to discuss how to boost cultural connections between… SEE MORE

windmills in the distance behind a body of water

Island Journal

Song of the Samsingers

Landing on Samsø Island, part of Denmark, we were greeted by a kind of rock star. “Hello! My name is Søren,” exclaimed the man. “I am the lead singer of the Samsingers,” he smiled, echoing a local pun (the residents of the island are known as “Samsingers”). Søren Hermansen was… SEE MORE

Woman sketching on a hill overlooking ocean

Island Journal

The Legacy of Ireland’s Great Blasket Island

A Community Unraveled: The Legacy of Ireland’s Great Blasket Island STORY AND PHOTOS BY KATHLEEN WALSH BUCHANAN The Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland, is a landscape of spare and emotive beauty. It is a rugged place of stone-walled fields climbing mountainsides to the limits of tillable land, where the… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Alaska’s Silvery Gold Rush

Every ounce is valuable. So valuable, in fact, that those difficult first cuts, if done poorly, will leave dollars on the floor. It’s mostly a mechanized process, but the head and tail are removed with a handheld knife. Then the fish’s glistening body is placed on a short conveyor belt… SEE MORE

Island Journal

What Scotland’s Islands Taught Me

Sally, our 17-year-old Scottish waitress, shyly replies to a question about the logistics of island education. “It takes an hour and a half on the school bus to get from my house to my school,” she says, taking a moment between customers at this tiny inn in a remote part… SEE MORE

Islands From Away

Island Journal

A Rock Revived: Newfoundland’s Fogo Island

Fogo Island’s story is one of survival. In modern times, this 92-square-mile island has survived the provincial government’s attempts to resettle the population, the demise of the cod fishery that sustained Newfoundland for centuries, and the severe economic downturn caused by loss of the cod. But the rugged residents of… SEE MORE

Islands From Away