The island of Surtsey, part of the Westman Islands, turned 50 years old on November 14th. We visited Heimaey on our second trip to Iceland, and could see Surtsey off in the distance 🙂 It isn’t certain whether Surtsey will survive, or continue to shrink until it disappears back into the ocean, but regardless it is a spectacular reminder of the incredible forces which shape the planet, and which created Iceland.

From the article:

Surtsey 50 ára
Surtsey at 50

Fimmtíu ár eru liðin í dag frá því Surtseyjargosið hófst. Það voru skipverjar á fiskibátnum Ísleifi öðrum frá Vestmannaeyjum sem sáu þegar strókurinn kom upp úr hafinu skammt frá þar sem þeir voru að veiðum. Klukkan var sjö fimmtán að morgni. Skipverjar mældu í kjölfaroð hitastigið í sjónum sem reyndist vera tíu gráður. Það var hins vegar ekki fyrr en morguninn eftir að ljóst varð að eyja var að rísa úr sæ.

Fifty years ago today the eruption of Surtsey began. It was crew members on the fishing boat Ísleifur II from the Westman Islands who saw the column of smoke come up out of the sea not far from where they were fishing. It was 7:15 in the morning. The crewmen measured the temperature of the water which turned out to be 10 degrees Celsius. However it wasn’t until the next morning that it became apparent that an island was rising out of the sea.

að rísa – to rise
present past
ég rís reis
þú ríst reist
það rís reis
við rísum risum
þið rísið risuð
þau rísa risu
  
sær (m) – ocean, sea
singular plural
nom sær
acc
dat
gen sævar

I’m not sure about kjölfaroð, I couldn’t find an exact word, maybe it’s a typo? It seems to have the word for wake in it; something to do with behind the boat, perhaps they measured the temperature from a tow line?

You might also notice three different word for sea or oceanhaf, sjór and sær 🙂

hefja v                begin, commence
skip·verji m           crew member (on a boat)
strókur m              column of smoke/steam
kjöl·far n             wake
mæla v (acc)           measure, survey
sær m                  ocean, sea