North Atlantic Right Whale Sighted Off Iceland Coast
July 23, 2018

Source: A Rare Right Whale Sighting In Iceland - Anderson Cabot Center For Ocean Life

A North Atlantic right whale was recently sighted by a whale watching tour off the coast of Iceland on July 23rd and again on July 24th. This is an extremely rare event as this is only the fourth sighting in the past 30 years. Some videos were recorded and many pictures were taken which allowed researchers to identify the whale as Mogul (#3845) a 10 year old male born to Slalom (#1245) in 2008. He was recently seen feeding in waters off Marshfield, Massachusetts on April 21st. It is not known whether North Atlantic right whales from the Western Atlantic used to go to Iceland frequently, if the amount of these whales there is always low or if it is a sign of things to come. At any rate, we urge the Icelandic government to strengthen laws and regulations protecting these whales so that no matter how many of these endangered whales go to Icelandic waters, they can still be kept safe. We also call on the Icelandic government to immediately cease the hunting of whales. North Atlantic right whales are not currently hunted in Iceland and the minke whale hunt was recently called off but endangered fin whales are still being killed by a whaling company in Iceland and recently, one fin/blue whale hybrid (possibly an actual blue whale) was killed in Icelandic waters.

Mogul (#3845) feeding off the coast of Iceland
Photo: Elding Whale Watching

Mogul (#3845) feeding off the coast of Iceland
Photo: Guolaugur Ottesen Karlsson - Elding Adventures At Sea

Map with location of sighting
Map: Elding Whale Watching

More photos can be found here:
July 23rd: https://elding.is/north-atlantic-right-whale-seen-reykjavik
July 24th: https://www.facebook.com/pg/specialtoursiceland/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1916841118380196