Good news for whale lovers, whale watchers, and most of all, whales: there are thousands of whales in Icelandic waters right now, and humpback whales are experiencing an upswing in numbers, RÚV reports.
The count
The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI) has recently conducted a census of whales found swimming in Icelandic waters. Conducted over the period of a month, MFRI whale specialist Guðjón Már Sigurðsson told reporters that the outlook was very good, with over 4,000 whales counted.
“A great number of whales were spotted,” he said. “Most of all, fin whales. After those, long-finned pilot whales, northern bottlenose whales, and humpback whales.”
Humpbacks coming up
There have been several reports of large pods of humpback whales in Icelandic waters. As one example, a pod of humpback whales was recently spotted near the island of Grímsey, north of Iceland. It is suspected that these whales were following a school of mackerel.
Guðjón said that he had also heard similar reports, and believes that humpbacks are increasing in number.
