A seventeen meter (56 feet) long fin whale has beached on Hvalsnes ness on Reykjanes peninsula. Fin whale beachings are relatively rare. Biologists have not yet determined the cause of death, but according to a biologist with the Suðurnes Science and Learning Center the animal appears to be malnourished.
Fin whales are the second largest whale species. A fully grown fin whale can easily reach 20 meters (66 ft), weighing 70 metric tons (155,000 pounds), equal to 70 small passenger vehicles.
The whale which beached at Hvalsnes is a female. The cow appears not to be fully grown, and according to initial studies it also appears to be malnourished. Sölvi Rúnar Vignisson, a biologist with Suðurnes Science and Learning Center, who was among the first to study the whale, told the local TV station Stöð 2 that the whale appears to have been in extremely poor state. It is too early to determine why the whale died. Marine biologists with the Icelandic Marine Research institute will now study the carcass and take samples.
Despite the name of the ness where the whale beached whale beachings at the site are rare: Hvalsnes translates as Whale-ness.
A seventeen meter (56 feet) long fin whale has beached on Hvalsnes ness on Reykjanes peninsula. Fin whale beachings are relatively rare. Biologists have not yet determined the cause of death, but according to a biologist with the Suðurnes Science and Learning Center the animal appears to be malnourished.
Fin whales are the second largest whale species. A fully grown fin whale can easily reach 20 meters (66 ft), weighing 70 metric tons (155,000 pounds), equal to 70 small passenger vehicles.
The whale which beached at Hvalsnes is a female. The cow appears not to be fully grown, and according to initial studies it also appears to be malnourished. Sölvi Rúnar Vignisson, a biologist with Suðurnes Science and Learning Center, who was among the first to study the whale, told the local TV station Stöð 2 that the whale appears to have been in extremely poor state. It is too early to determine why the whale died. Marine biologists with the Icelandic Marine Research institute will now study the carcass and take samples.
Despite the name of the ness where the whale beached whale beachings at the site are rare: Hvalsnes translates as Whale-ness.
