A sperm whale has beached itself in Snæfellsnes, and to all appearances seems to have been a recent arrival.
RÚV reports that the whale is an adult, measuring some 12 to 15 metres long.
Skúli Alexandersson, a guide from Hellissandi, told reporters, “It appears to be a full-grown animal, completely intact. Access is easy for those who want to look at it. You have to walk some 200 metres over the shore, which is a little rough, so you need good shoes. But otherwise it’s easy to look at.”
He also reported that there is no smell of decay of the animal. “So he appears to be brand new. This would have been quite a boon in the old days, when a windfall was a windfall.” Here, Skúli demonstrates a play on words – the Icelandic word for windfall, hvalreki, literally means “beached whale”.
Skúli does not have any other plans for the beached whale but to try and bring tourists to see it. He said he has seen beached whales here before, albeit seldom with teeth – these are usually quickly removed by others, as they are a bit valuable.
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