Hellisey () is an island in the

Vestmann Islands Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyja ...

, south of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. It is 6 km southwest of Heimaey and 13 km northeast of Surtsey. Hellisey only has an area of 0.1 km ² and extends to about 100 m above sea level.

Nature

The island is a bird paradise. Like other Vestmann Islands, Hellisey is also a

volcanic island Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...

. A local company makes fishing tours to the island. Prior to 1960, the island also had some sheep.

Miscellaneous

A fishing boat was named after the island. It sank on 12 March 1984.

Guðlaugur Friðþórsson Guðlaugur Friðþórsson (born 24 September 1961) is an Icelandic fisherman who survived six hours in cold water after his fishing vessel had capsized and furthermore trekked, for another three hours, across lava fields to reach a town for help ...

was the only survivor of the crew. As with other Vestmann islands, Hellysey has inspired some traditional poems

References

Islands of Iceland Vestmannaeyjar {{Iceland-geo-stub