Beached sperm whale in South Iceland
The whale next to Gröndal's vehicle. Photo: Benedikt Þ. Gröndal
A sperm whale was discovered yesterday on the shore at Sólheimasandur in South Iceland.
Benedikt Þ. Gröndal, a driver for the Icelandic tour company Mountain Taxi, discovered the beached animal yesterday afternoon.
He believes that the whale had washed up recently as there was no smell from the carcass. Also, Sólheimasandur is a popular tourist destination and somebody would have likely seen the whale earlier if it had been there for several days.
Gröndal saw the whale, apparently 10-12m in length, from a distance and drove over to investigate – with his two American passengers in tow, who were most happy with the unexpected addition to their South Iceland trip.
Sólheimasandur is more famous for this wreck of a crashed Douglas Dakota DC-3. Photo: Jónas Erlendsson
