Beached Pilot Whales in Snæfellsnes: Video

Passers-by chanced upon about ten beached pilot whales in Álftafjörður fjord, on the north side of the Snæfellsnes peninsula, West Iceland, yesterday. Of those ten, three were still alive when the people arrived. Unsuccessful attempts were made to pour water over the whales to ease their suffering.

In the video, sent to mbl.is by Darja Lane, you can see the whales fighting for their lives.

Darja tells mbl.is she notified the police, but that no one had yet arrived by the time she left the place. The West Iceland Police could not be reached for comment.

In the video, Darja states that three of the ten whales were still alive when she and others arrived on the scene. One of the three died while she was there. She adds that the people were at a loss as to what to do to help the whales.

For pilot whales to beach in Iceland is not uncommon. In July of last year, we reported that dozens of beached pilot whales, all of them already dead, had been detected by a helicopter pilot on Löngufjörur beach on the Snæfellsnes peninsula.

The following month, a more positive story was reported, when rescue workers succeeded in rescuing about 30 out of  nearly 50 pilot whales that had beached near Garður, on the Reykjanes peninsula, Southwest Iceland.