© Bjarni JónssonAmong the deepest diving whales in the world's oceans. Bottlenose whales dive up to 1 km.
We have seen a unusually large number of reports of beached bottlenose whales and other deep ocean whales this summer. Scientists have been unable to determine the cause of these deaths. Marine biologists in Norway have also noticed an unusually high number of beached deep ocean whales this summer.
On September 21 the North-West Iceland Natural History Museum NNV received the fifth report of a beached bottlenose whale in Skagafjörður fjord this summer. The whale was found dead on Borgarsandur beach near the town of Sauðarkrókur.
The 3.8 m long animal was removed from the beach before it started to rot, as the beach is a popular recreational area for locals.
Bjarni Jónsson, a biologist at NNV who has investigated the whales that have washed ashore in Skagafjörður told the National Broadcasting Service earlier this year that it is possible the whales,
which usually hunt in the deep oceans, are moving closer to shore to chase schools of fish. Others have suggested that NATO military sonar exercises in the North Atlantic might be causing the unusually high number of beached deep ocean whales.
Comment: The
same website also reported on August 30:
Earlier this week biologists with the North-West Iceland Natural History Museum NNV investigated a bottlenose whale, a 9 m (30 ft) long male, which was found beached near Ytri-Ingveldarstaðir farm in Skagafjörður fjord in N. Iceland. The whale appears to have died relatively recently and washed ashore. Bjarni Jónsson, the director of NNV, told the National Broadcasting Service RÚV that it appears whale beachings are more common this year than in recent years.
Three seperate beachings were reported in the Eastfjords last week, bringing the total number of reported beachings in the region to nine. In many cases the animals in question have been bottlenose whales. Two bottlenose dolphins beached themselves on Engey island outside the Old Harbor in downtown Reykjavík earlier this month. One of those whales was rescued, the other died.
Comment: The same website also reported on August 30: