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52-425: Diamond Beach may mean Diamond Beach, Iceland , a black-sand beach with iceberg fragments Diamond Beach, New Jersey, USA Diamond Beach, New South Wales, Australia Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Diamond Beach . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

104-675: A monophyletic origin. A 2021 genetic study found that pinnipeds are more closely related to musteloids. Pinnipeds split from other caniforms 50 million years ago ( mya ) during the Eocene . The earliest fossils of pinnipeds date back to the Late Oligocene . Fossil animals representing basal lineages include Puijila , of the Early Miocene in Arctic Canada. It resembled a modern otter, but shows evidence of quadrupedal swimming—retaining

156-616: A monophyletic group (descended from one ancestor). Pinnipeds belong to the suborder Caniformia of the order Carnivora ; their closest living relatives are musteloids ( weasels , raccoons , skunks and red pandas ), having diverged about 50 million years ago. Seals range in size from the 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and 45 kg (100 lb) Baikal seal to the 5 m (16 ft) and 3,200 kg (7,100 lb) southern elephant seal . Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism . They have streamlined bodies and four limbs that are modified into flippers . Though not as fast in

208-798: A Kill (1985) and Die Another Day (2002), Batman Begins (2005), Beowulf and Grendel (2005), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and Dilwale The popularity of the lake has been further boosted by the TV coverage provided live from Jökulsárlón on the American TV program Good Morning America in southeast Iceland, on 13 November 2006. The live broadcast is reported to have been watched by four million people. In 2014, Swedish electronic multimedia project, iamamiwhoami , filmed their music video "vista" in Jökulsárlón. In October 2014, scenes of French singer Indila 's music video "Love Story" were filmed at

260-615: A few, such as the leopard seal , feed on large vertebrates, such as penguins and other seals. Walruses are specialized for feeding on bottom-dwelling mollusks . Male pinnipeds typically mate with more than one female ( polygyny ), though the degree of polygyny varies with the species. The males of land-breeding species tend to mate with a greater number of females than those of ice breeding species . Male pinniped strategies for reproductive success vary between defending females, defending territories that attract females and performing ritual displays or lek mating . Pups are typically born in

312-502: A form of aquatic locomotion that led to those employed by modern pinnipeds. Potamotherium , which lived in the same period in Europe, was similar to Puijila but more aquatic. The braincase of Potamotherium shows evidence that it used its whiskers to hunt, like modern seals. Both Puijila and Potamotherium fossils have been found in lake deposits, suggesting that seal ancestors were originally adapted for fresh water. Enaliarctos ,

364-419: A fossil species of late Oligocene /early Miocene (24–22 mya) California , closely resembled modern pinnipeds; it was adapted to an aquatic life with flippers and a flexible spine. Its teeth were more like land predators in that they were more adapted for shearing . Its hind-flippers may have allowed it to walk on land, and it probably did not leave coastal areas as much as its modern relatives. Enaliarctos

416-581: A layer of fat, or blubber , under the skin to keep warm in cold water, and, other than the walrus, all species are covered in fur. Although pinnipeds are widespread, most species prefer the colder waters of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They spend most of their lives in water, but come ashore to mate, give birth, molt or to avoid ocean predators, such as sharks and orcas . Seals mainly live in marine environments but can also be found in fresh water. They feed largely on fish and marine invertebrates ;

468-428: A part of Vatnajökull National Park . The Jökulsárlón Landowners Association represented the owners of the land property Fell. This property was leased out for filming or any other commercial activity as required. Einar Björn Einarsson is the operator of the boat trips on Jökulsárlón. The Landowners Association leased out the site at the lagoon front to this operator to ply the boats on the lagoon. Jökulsárlón and

520-487: A setting for four Hollywood movies: A View to a Kill , Die Another Day , Lara Croft: Tomb Raider , and Batman Begins , as well as the reality TV series The Amazing Race . In 1991, Iceland issued a postage stamp, with a face value of 26 kronur , depicting Jökulsárlón. The tongue of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier is a major attraction for tourists. The Jökulsárlón lake provides outstanding views of

572-438: A unique ecological phenomenon. Jökulsárlón Lake, the "glacier lake", was reported to have doubled in size in the 15-year period before 2007. The huge blocks of ice that calve from the edge of Vatnajökull are about 30 m (98 ft) high, which fills the lagoon stocked with icebergs. Some icebergs appear naturally sculpted on account volcanic ash from ancient eruptions that partly covers them. The icebergs that calve from

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624-402: Is because of their massive ankle bones and flatter heels. In water, true seals rely on the side-to-side motion of their hind-flippers and lower body to move forward. The phocid's skull has thickened mastoids , puffed up entotympanic bones , nasal bones with a pointed tip in the back and a non-existent supraorbital foramen. The hip has a more converse ilium . A 2006 molecular study supports

676-503: Is now. This retreat is also posing a threat to the National Highway Route 1 of Iceland. The lagoon is 75 km (47 mi) to the west of Höfn town and 60 km (37 mi) east of Skaftafell . It is accessible by the ring road, Route 1, that goes across the lake, and where parking facilities have been provided for visitors. It is also known as the "tourist conveyor belt". Isolated large blocks of icebergs can be seen on

728-540: Is over 200 m (660 ft) deep where the glacier snout originally existed. Glacial moraines became exposed on both sides of the lake. In 1975, the lake was about 8 km (3.1 sq mi) in area and now it reportedly stands at 18 km (6.9 sq mi) at the edge of the glacier tongue. In 2017 the Icelandic State bought the farm Fell which includes Jökulsárlón. Later that same year Fell and other public land surrounding Jökulsárlón got protected as

780-720: The Caribbean monk seal have become extinct in the past century, while the Mediterranean monk seal and Hawaiian monk seal are ranked as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature . Besides hunting, pinnipeds also face threats from accidental trapping , marine pollution , climate change and conflicts with local people. The name "pinniped" derives from the Latin words pinna ' fin ' and pes, pedis ' foot ' . The common name "seal" originates from

832-478: The Little Ice Age between 1600 and 1900, with lower temperatures prevailing in these latitudes, the glacier had grown by up to about 1 km (0.62 mi) from the coast at Jokulsá River, by about 1890. When the temperatures rose between 1920 and 1965, the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier tongue rapidly retreated, continually creating icebergs of varying size, thus creating a lagoon in its wake around 1934–35. The lake

884-977: The Old English word seolh , which is in turn derived from the Proto-Germanic * selkhaz . Bearded seal Hooded seal Ringed seal Baikal seal Caspian seal Spotted seal Harbor seal Grey seal Ribbon seal Harp seal Weddell seal Leopard seal Crabeater seal Ross seal Southern elephant seal Northern elephant seal Mediterranean monk seal Hawaiian monk seal Northern fur seal Steller sea lion California sea lion Galápagos sea lion South American sea lion Australian sea lion New Zealand sea lion Brown fur seal Subantarctic fur seal Antarctic fur seal Guadalupe fur seal Juan Fernández fur seal Antipodean fur seal Galápagos fur seal South American fur seal   Walrus The German naturalist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger

936-662: The nasal bones , with a large and flattened supraorbital foramen . An extra spine splits the supraspinatous fossa and bronchi that are divided in the front. Otariids consist of two types: sea lions and fur seals ; the latter typically being smaller, with pointier snouts, longer fore-flippers and heavier fur coats . Five genera and seven species (one now extinct) of sea lion are known to exist, while two genera and nine species of fur seal exist. While sea lions and fur seals have historically been considered separate subfamilies (Otariinae and Arctocephalinae respectively), genetic and molecular evidence has refuted this, indicating that

988-544: The northern fur seal is basal to other otariids and the Australian sea lion and New Zealand sea lion are more closely related to Arctocephalus than to other sea lions. Odobenidae has only one living member: the walrus . This animal is noticeable from its larger size (exceeded only by the elephant seals ), nearly hairless skin, flattened snout and long upper canines , known as tusks . Like otariids, walruses can walk on land with their hind limbs. When moving in water,

1040-544: The orbital wall . The extinct family Desmatophocidae lived 23–10 mya in the North Pacific. They had long skulls that with large orbits, interlocked zygomatic bones and rounded molars and premolars . They also were sexually dimorphic and may have been capable of swimming with both or either pair of flippers. They are grouped with modern pinnipeds, but there is debate as to whether they are more closely related to phocids or to otariids and walruses. The ancestors of

1092-485: The 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and 45 kg (100 lb) Baikal seal to the 5 m (16 ft) and 3,200 kg (7,100 lb) southern elephant seal . Overall, they tend to be larger than other carnivores. Several species have male-biased sexual dimorphism that depends on how polygynous a species is: highly polygynous species like elephant seals are extremely sexually dimorphic, while less polygynous species have males and females that are closer in size, or, in

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1144-679: The North Atlantic, and likely reached the Pacific via the Central American Seaway . Phocines mainly stayed in the Northern Hemisphere, while the monachines diversified southward. The lineages of Otariidae and Odobenidae split around 20 mya. The earliest fossil records of otariids are in North Pacific and dated to around 11 mya. Early fossil genera include Pithanotaria and Thalassoleon . The Callorhinus lineage split

1196-531: The Otarioidea and Phocidea diverged around 25 mya. Phocids are known to have existed for at least 15 million years, and molecular evidence supports a divergence of the Monachinae and Phocinae lineages around this time. The fossil genera Monotherium and Leptophoca of southeastern North America represent the earliest members of Monachinae and Phocinae respectively. Both lineages may have originated in

1248-464: The area that offer guests an opportunity to explore the area. In 1985, the premiere of the James Bond movie A View to a Kill marked the start of commercial boat tours on the lake. Guðbrandur Jóhannesson started the tours on Jökulsárlón. Jóhannesson, who today owns and operates the company Vatnajökull Travel , operated the tours for the first two years. In summer 1987, about 5,000 passengers sailed on

1300-593: The area) is the main habitat of the Arctic skua ( Stercorarius parasiticus ). During the summer season, the gull-like skuas have their nests on the lake's shores. The skuas, fat and dark in colour with white wingtips, are said to be aggressive "pirates of the seas", which harass other birds as big as gannets . They also kill and eat smaller birds such as puffins . Great skuas are not afraid of human beings and also do not tolerate human beings close to their nests. These birds are reported to migrate from their wintering grounds off

1352-412: The black sand beach, sometimes called "diamond beach" because of ice chunks scattered on the sand. The name of the beach is actually Eystri-Fellsfjara. There are many activities available to guests at Jökulsárlón. There are lagoon tours provided by several different companies in boats or kayaks. In the winter there are ice cave tours that leave from the lagoon parking lot. There are hiking trails around

1404-455: The body. Seals are unique among carnivorans in that their orbital walls are mostly shaped by the maxilla and are not contained by certain facial bones. Compared to land carnivores, pinnipeds have fewer teeth, which are pointed and cone-shaped. They are adapted for holding onto slippery prey rather than shearing meat like the carnassials of other carnivorans. The walrus has unique tusks which are long upper canines. Pinnipeds range in size from

1456-399: The case of Antarctic seals, females are moderately bigger. Males of sexually dimorphic species also tend to have secondary sex characteristics , such as larger or more prominent heads, necks, chests, crests , noses/ proboscises and canine teeth as well as thicker fur and manes. Though more polygynous species tend to be sexually dimorphic, some evidence suggests that size differences between

1508-469: The coasts of Spain and Africa . Seals are seen either swimming in the lagoon or lying on icebergs. Many times, the tides carry shoals of herring or capelan into the lagoon by the tide and the birds feast on them. The first settlers arrived in Iceland around AD 870, when the edge of the tongue of Breiðamerkurjökull glacier was about 20 km (12 mi) further north of its present location. During

1560-466: The combined forces of rivers, glacial ice, and volcanic and geothermal activity. The National Park aims to preserve unimpaired the natural beauty of the park for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. A coffer dam was constructed near the Glacial River Bridge that spans Jökulsárlón to build a row of protective measures of stone boulders to prevent any erosion of

1612-481: The company's two small vessels. The next year, an amphibious vehicle , the LARC-V , joined the fleet. By 1995, the number of passengers per year had multiplied and the company then operated three amphibious vehicles. In 1999, Einar Björn Einarsson, a local from the nearby town of Höfn , bought the company. In 2006, the company added a fourth amphibian. The company Jökulsárlón ehf now employs about 30 seasonal employees. For

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1664-494: The complex songs of Weddell seals . The meat, blubber and skin of pinnipeds have traditionally been used by indigenous peoples of the Arctic . Seals have been depicted in various cultures worldwide. They are commonly kept in captivity and are even sometimes trained to perform tricks and tasks. Once relentlessly hunted by commercial industries for their products, seals are now protected by international law. The Japanese sea lion and

1716-467: The division of phocids into two monophyletic subfamilies: Monachinae, which consists of elephant seals, monk seals and Antarctic seals ; and Phocinae, which consists of all the rest. One popular hypothesis suggested that pinnipeds are diphyletic (descended from two ancestral lines), with walruses and otariids sharing a recent common ancestor with bears ; and phocids sharing one with Musteloidea . However, morphological and molecular evidence support

1768-535: The earliest, followed by the Eumetopias / Zalophus lineage and then the rest, which colonized the Southern Hemisphere. The earliest fossils of Odobenidae— Prototaria of Japan and Proneotherium of Oregon—date to 18–16 mya. These primitive walruses had normal sized canines and fed on fish instead of mollusks. Later taxa like Gomphotaria , Pontolis and Dusignathus had longer canines on both

1820-468: The foundation of the pillars of the bridge. This coffer dam enabled the Icelandic road administration to create workable access for the power shovel digger to place the row of stone protective measures, which would also divert the icebergs from hitting the bridge pillars, thus avoiding damage to the structure. Given the current retreat rate of Vatnajökull, likely a deep fjord will develop where Jökulsárlón

1872-468: The glacier edge move towards the river mouth and get entrenched at the bottom. The movement of the icebergs fluctuates with the tide currents, as well as being affected by wind. However, they start floating as icebergs when their size is small enough to drift to the sea. These icebergs are seen in two shades: milky white and bright blue, which depends on the air trapped within the ice and is an interplay of light and ice crystals. The outlet glacier that feeds

1924-475: The glaciers melt, the land rises around 2–4 cm each year somewhat balancing out the retreating shoreline. The lake is filled with fish that drift in from the sea along with the tides. Seals gather in large numbers at the mouth of the lake to catch fish during the winter. Large numbers of seabirds, particularly Arctic terns , which nest nearby, gather to catch herring , trout , salmon , krill and other fish. Breiðamerkursandur (the large sand deposits in

1976-521: The ice cap, a vast dome of ice that rises to a height of 3,000 ft (910 m). It spills to the lagoon 12 mi (19 km) away from the jagged glacier hill to the edge of the water line. The lake developed only about 60 years ago (1948 is mentioned), when the entire area was less than 100 ft (30 m) of glacier, which was only 250 yd (230 m) from the Atlantic Ocean, and 2 mi (3.2 km) away from Vatnajökull. Vatnajökull

2028-422: The lagoon is called Breiðamerkurjökull. The glacier is responsible for the formation of a large outwash plain called Breiðamerkursandur. It has a breadth of around 25 km and serves as bird habitat in the summer month. This outwash plain is constantly changing. The shoreline of the glacial lagoon used to be advancing, but is now retreating as there is a decrease in glacial rivers depositing material. However, as

2080-696: The lagoon. Pinniped This is an accepted version of this page Pinnipeds (pronounced / ˈ p ɪ n ɪ ˌ p ɛ d z / ), commonly known as seals , are a widely distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous , fin -footed, semiaquatic , mostly marine mammals . They comprise the extant families Odobenidae (whose only living member is the walrus ), Otariidae (the eared seals: sea lions and fur seals ), and Phocidae (the earless seals, or true seals), with 34 extant species and more than 50 extinct species described from fossils . While seals were historically thought to have descended from two ancestral lines, molecular evidence supports them as

2132-534: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diamond_Beach&oldid=1192667331 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Diamond Beach, Iceland The lake can be seen from Route 1 between Höfn and Skaftafell . It appears as "a ghostly procession of luminous blue icebergs". Jökulsárlón has been

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2184-469: The past few years, the company has carried 60,000 to 70,000 passengers annually; since the first commercial boat tour, about 900,000 tourists have taken the excursion. There are park rangers working in the area all year round. During the summer months park rangers offer free educational walks for park visitors. Jökulsárlón and the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier have been part of the James Bond films A View to

2236-429: The spring and summer months and females bear almost all the responsibility for raising them. Mothers of some species fast and nurse their young for a relatively short period of time while others take foraging trips at sea between nursing bouts. Walruses are known to nurse their young while at sea. Seals produce a number of vocalizations , notably the barks of California sea lions , the gong -like calls of walruses and

2288-406: The superfamily Phocoidea. There are 34 extant species of pinnipeds, and more than 50 fossil species of pinnipedimorphs. Otariids are also known as eared seals due to their pinnae . These animals swim mainly using their well-developed fore-flippers. They can also "walk" on land by shifting their hind-flippers forward under the body. The front end of an otariid's frontal bone protrudes between

2340-484: The surrounding area are a part of Vatnajökull National park. The size of the park is 14,707 km Which is approximately 14% of Iceland, making it Europe's second largest national park in terms of area after Yugyd Va in Russia. On 5 July 2019, Vatnajökull National Park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The unique qualities of Vatnajökull National Park are primarily its great variety of landscape features, created by

2392-751: The upper and lower jaw. The familiar long upper tusks developed in the genera Valenictus and Odobenus . The lineage of the modern walrus may have spread from the North Pacific to the North Atlantic through the Caribbean and Central American Seaway 8–5 mya, and then back to the North Pacific via the Arctic 1 mya, or to the Arctic and subsequently the North Atlantic during the Pleistocene . Pinnipeds have streamlined, spindle-shaped bodies with small or non-existent ear flaps, rounded heads, short muzzles, flexible necks, limbs modified into flippers and small tails. The mammary glands and genitals can withdraw into

2444-445: The walrus relies on its hind limbs for locomotion, while its forelimbs are used for steering. Also, it has no outer ears. The epipterygoid of the jaw is well developed and the back of the nasal bones are horizontal. In the feet, the calcaneuses protrude in the middle. Phocids are known as true or "earless" seals. These animals lack outer ears and cannot position their hind-flippers to move on land, making them more cumbersome. This

2496-704: The water as dolphins , seals are more flexible and agile. Otariids primarily use their front limbs to propel themselves through the water, while phocids and walruses primarily use their hind limbs for this purpose. Otariids and walruses have hind limbs that can be pulled under the body and used as legs on land. By comparison, terrestrial locomotion by phocids is more cumbersome. Otariids have visible external ears, while phocids and walruses lack these. Pinnipeds have well-developed senses—their eyesight and hearing are adapted for both air and water, and they have an advanced tactile system in their whiskers or vibrissae. Some species are well adapted for diving to great depths. They have

2548-524: The world. In 1989, Annalisa Berta and colleagues proposed the unranked clade Pinnipedimorpha to contain the fossil genus Enaliarctos and modern seals as a sister group . Pinnipeds belong to the order Carnivora and the suborder Caniformia (known as dog-like carnivorans). Of the three extant families, the Otariidae and Odobenidae are grouped in the superfamily Otarioidea, while the Phocidae belong to

2600-467: Was at the shore line of the ocean and dropped icebergs into the ocean. However, it started drifting inland rapidly every year, leaving deep gorges en route, which got filled with melted water and large chunks of ice. These icebergs gather at the mouth of the lake's shallow exit, melt down into smaller ice blocks, and roll out into the sea. In summer, icebergs melt and roll down the channel into the sea. The lake does not freeze in winter. Ice water and soil make

2652-491: Was likely more of a fore-flipper swimmer, but could probably swim with either pair. One species, Enaliarctos emlongi , exhibited notable sexual dimorphism , suggesting that this physical characteristic may have been an important driver of pinniped evolution. A closer relative of extant pinnipeds was Pteronarctos , which lived in Oregon 19–15 mya. As in modern seals, the maxilla or upper jaw bone of Pteroarctos intersects with

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2704-527: Was the first to recognize the pinnipeds as a distinct taxonomic unit; in 1811 he gave the name Pinnipedia to both a family and an order . American zoologist Joel Asaph Allen reviewed the world's pinnipeds in an 1880 monograph , History of North American pinnipeds, a monograph of the walruses, sea-lions, sea-bears and seals of North America . In this publication, he traced the history of names, gave keys to families and genera, described North American species and provided synopses of species in other parts of

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