Icelanders Gather Eiderdown From Nest

Occurred on June 15, 2021 / Fljotin, Iceland

Info from Licensor: "This is the process of gathering eiderdown. Humans offer the Common Eider Ducks (Somateria molissima) a safe environment to nest in, and then we gather the down in this manner. The ducklings are only a few short days away from hatching and once they have hatched, they leave the nest and never return. This does not have any affect on the duck nor the ducklings, as proven in a study conducted by the University of Iceland. The ducks nest where humans live and we give them a fenced off area to nest safely and steer any predators away from them. Eiderdown is the world's only down gathered in this manner, as well as the only down gathered commercially from a wild species of bird. All other down is plucked from farmed ducks and geese, with the birds either living or dead. Eiderdown is the worlds most insulating, most cohesive and lightest down by volume."