Yesterday a young minke whale calf stranded by the harbour in the village of Þórshöfn, north-east Iceland. The young whale was seen swimming into the harbour around nine in the morning, and was seen swimming by the harbour marina between one and two in the afternoon. He later beached himself by the marina.
The video, shot by Jóhann Hjálmarsson, a local truck driver and posted by the local news site visir.is, shows where the whale was beached on the shallows by the marina.
Successful rescue by local search and rescue teams and contractors
Members of local search and rescue teams and contractors worked for hours attempting to free the whale, managing to get him back to the water by evening. The calf swam around in the harbour for a while, but quickly beached himself again. Search and rescue teams and contractors set back to work, and managed to get the whale back to sea after high tide, which was at 22:00 last night.
Jón Stefánsson, a sergeant with the police in East Iceland told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that the whale was escorted out of the harbour to ensure it found its way back to the open ocean, and that it had swum off. “When they had escorted him out of the harbour he dove into the ocean and he has not been seen since.”
Yesterday a young minke whale calf stranded by the harbour in the village of Þórshöfn, north-east Iceland. The young whale was seen swimming into the harbour around nine in the morning, and was seen swimming by the harbour marina between one and two in the afternoon. He later beached himself by the marina.
The video, shot by Jóhann Hjálmarsson, a local truck driver and posted by the local news site visir.is, shows where the whale was beached on the shallows by the marina.
Successful rescue by local search and rescue teams and contractors
Members of local search and rescue teams and contractors worked for hours attempting to free the whale, managing to get him back to the water by evening. The calf swam around in the harbour for a while, but quickly beached himself again. Search and rescue teams and contractors set back to work, and managed to get the whale back to sea after high tide, which was at 22:00 last night.
Jón Stefánsson, a sergeant with the police in East Iceland told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that the whale was escorted out of the harbour to ensure it found its way back to the open ocean, and that it had swum off. “When they had escorted him out of the harbour he dove into the ocean and he has not been seen since.”
