The Coast Guard vessel Freyja was called to Bessastaðir in the fjord Hrútafjörður, in the north-west part of Iceland, last weekend, to look into circumstances surrounding a beached whale at the shore. The crew sent two speed boats to the shore for inspection. The carcass turned out to be a 15-meter-long sperm whale.
Photo: lhg.is
According to the Coast Guard’s webpage, the whale was almost fully placed on dry land. While waiting for the high tide, members of the Coast Guard fastened some lines to the tail. Since it was not safe for Freyja to sail all the way in, due to the low tide, the smaller boats were used to pull at the carcass. As soon as the whale came loose and reached the water level, the boats took it to the vessel Freyja, where the lines were fastened, and the carcass then dragged far out to sea.
The dead sperm whale was dragged for about 30 nautical miles North of Horn, before it was released to the currents.
Photo: lhg.is
This article was originally written in Icelandic by Björgvin Gunnarsson.