Image
© Jón G. Guðjónsson. The beached whale.
A fairly large, 12-15 meter (39-49 feet), whale was discovered dead on the beach in Skarðsvík in Trékyllisvík, Árneshreppur, in the West Fjords, last weekend. It appears to have drifted ashore recently, as stated on local news website litlihjalli.is.

"On the way back from a lovely swim in the swimming pool in Krossnes, we saw the body of the dead whale floating near the coast," Dutch tourist Annick Gijzel wrote in a comment on the story.

"Wondering if it really was a dead whale we went a little closer to make sure that we saw what we thought we were seeing," she added. "Back in the hotel we informed the staff of our sighting."

After examining photos of the carcass, zoologist Ævar Petersen determined that it was a humpback, probably a male judging by its size and the shape of its flipper, litlihjalli.is wrote in an update of the story today.

The Icelandic Phallological Museum has already asked for the whale's penis.