Newborn Killer Whale Named By Contest Participants

A contest launched last week generated quite a response, and a killer whale in Iceland now has a new name.

Orca Guardians Iceland announced a new contest last week, wherein participants got to name a newborn killer whale in Grundarfjörður.

That contest ended up proving very successful, and the newcomer has been christened “Tide”.

This name stood out about all others, surpassing other choices such as Save, Norse, and Echo.

If the name of the organisation sounds familiar, it should: the non-profit arrived in Iceland last July, and their purpose has been from their Icelandic inception to engage in non-invasive research on the killer whales in the region.

“The nonprofit values killer whales as individuals with unique character traits, and promotes respectful and mindful encounters with them,” their mission statement read in part. “One of the conservation tasks is, therefore, to develop a species-specific code of conduct for killer whale encounters on the water. This code of conduct is developed in cooperation with IceWhale and will be promoted not only to whale watching companies, but also to private boaters and fishermen in known orca areas.”

In addition, the group is also offering the general public the chance to “adopt” an orca, “where people can choose an orca and get to know ‘their’ orca through pictures and a profile of the individual that comprises encounters during the last three years, and explains about group structures, travel patterns, and special behavioral observations.”

For more information, check out their official site.