Stranded Whales in Iceland

Langanes, Iceland

Flavia ​Müller - Series 

In Iceland, mass beaching of pilot whales became quite regular nowadays. This year, there has been around four mass beachings in the east and west of Iceland, where each 30-50 pilot whales die.

In Iceland, mass beaching of pilot whales became quite regular nowadays. This year, there has been around four mass beachings in the east and west of Iceland, where each 30-50 pilot whales die. 

These images show the 52 pilot whales that stranded in the north east of Iceland, on Langanes peninsula. Pilot whales are very social creatures and the pod would never leave a sick or endangered companion. If one strands, the others do as well. 

The reasons for this are still not entirely proven, but there are various, to name one in particular is climate change; as it changes the setting and temperatures of the oceans, changes the food of the whales and some more..

Also, a change in fish has a change of fishing with it, there is more fishing or in new/different areas and fishing ships as well as military ships disturb the whales. The military ships even more, because of the strong sonar waves.

Furthermore, some of these whales had plastics in their stomachs, making plastic pollution leading to their stranding, An interesting fact in Iceland has been to found these whales stranded on private property, becoming the owners responsibility to remove them. Fifty whales were on one property, two on another one. The owner of the property where the two whales stranded took them 3 kilometers inlands to use them as a fertilizer for their reforestation project.