Employees of Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon in South Iceland fear that fans of the Canadian pop star Justin Bieber retracing his footsteps in Iceland could end up in serious danger, or worse yet, dead.
No rules against dangerous stupidity
In a newly released music video “I’ll Show You”, which was shot in Iceland Bieber visits several spectacularly beautiful spots in South Iceland. One of these is Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, where Bieber jumps in for a quick swim. However, the water is freezing cold, between -3°C and 3°C (26°F to 37°F), cold enough to be extremely dangerous. Another hazard: Floating icebergs which frequently break up unexpectedly, flipping over.
Employees at the tour company which offers guided trips on the lagoon told the celebrity news site TMZ that there were no rules against swimming in the lagoon, “it's just stupid, so they don't expect people to do it. At least, they didn't until Justin came along.” Now they fear die-hard fans of the Canadian pop star, so-called Beliebers might follow in his footsteps, putting themselves in extreme danger.
Bieber was not the first
As the Icelandic National Broadcasting Company points out Bieber is not the first foreign visitor to swim in the lagoon. Earlier this year eye witnesses at the lagoon were shocked to see two travellers diving into the lagoon to swim. At the time an employee at the lagoon said it was a question of when, not whether, someone managed to kill himself in the lagoon. In March two American travellers were also caught on camera running around in their underwear on the ice floats.
With increasing tourism the likelihood of visitors doing dangerous and reckless, even stupid things, increases. When such ideas are highlighted and promoted by famous people like Justin Bieber, the likelihood increases even further. We at Iceland Insider would like to stress that the natural elements are not to be trifled with: You do not want to come home from your vacation in Iceland in a body bag.
Employees of Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon in South Iceland fear that fans of the Canadian pop star Justin Bieber retracing his footsteps in Iceland could end up in serious danger, or worse yet, dead.
No rules against dangerous stupidity
In a newly released music video “I’ll Show You”, which was shot in Iceland Bieber visits several spectacularly beautiful spots in South Iceland. One of these is Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, where Bieber jumps in for a quick swim. However, the water is freezing cold, between -3°C and 3°C (26°F to 37°F), cold enough to be extremely dangerous. Another hazard: Floating icebergs which frequently break up unexpectedly, flipping over.
Employees at the tour company which offers guided trips on the lagoon told the celebrity news site TMZ that there were no rules against swimming in the lagoon, “it's just stupid, so they don't expect people to do it. At least, they didn't until Justin came along.” Now they fear die-hard fans of the Canadian pop star, so-called Beliebers might follow in his footsteps, putting themselves in extreme danger.
Bieber was not the first
As the Icelandic National Broadcasting Company points out Bieber is not the first foreign visitor to swim in the lagoon. Earlier this year eye witnesses at the lagoon were shocked to see two travellers diving into the lagoon to swim. At the time an employee at the lagoon said it was a question of when, not whether, someone managed to kill himself in the lagoon. In March two American travellers were also caught on camera running around in their underwear on the ice floats.
With increasing tourism the likelihood of visitors doing dangerous and reckless, even stupid things, increases. When such ideas are highlighted and promoted by famous people like Justin Bieber, the likelihood increases even further. We at Iceland Insider would like to stress that the natural elements are not to be trifled with: You do not want to come home from your vacation in Iceland in a body bag.
