Whales (?) spotted in North West Iceland.

Posted by Griffius@reddit | whales | View on Reddit | 8 comments

Please help me identify what whale or dolphin species we spotted in a Fjord in North West Iceland (Borðeyri). We find it very difficult to be certain so all help is appreciated!

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FatalDave91@reddit

I’m no expert, but they look like some form of beaked whale possibly

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Ooh!!! They look like Northern Bottlenose, and it looks like they have a calf with them!!
When was this video taken?
A little while ago someone else posted a whale video from Borðeyri, and while they were hard to see, I managed to find a facebook post by someone that took clearer photos in the same area, within the same time frame as their video, so I was able to confirm Northern Bottlenose. However, that group looked like a bunch of boys!
Looks like you got to see at least one lady! I wonder if the other one is an older sibling of the little calf, or a gal friend!

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Griffius@reddit (OP)

The video was taken early this morning, but we saw them last night as well. I think you are right, they look exactly like the Northern Bottlenose Whales. I was googling the most common species seen in northern Iceland but didn’t find a good match with the same round head and back fin. Thanks for letting me know!

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Metasequoia19@reddit

What a lucky sight!! Yeah, even though they're one of the best known beaked whales, they're still rather obscure compared to most other cetaceans.
Also, I was also so focused on pausing & playing back parts of the video that after watching it in full again, I realized there's two calves!! You see one at 26 seconds, and the other at 30 seconds. So it's a nursery pod! Wonderful!

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Griffius@reddit (OP)

Could be! The back fin, shape and colouring looks the same. The only thing that seems different is that the ones in the video seem to have a roundish head