Troubling images have emerged showing dozens of dead whales lying on a
beach in western Iceland.
The terribly sad photographs were taken by helicopter pilot David
Schwarzhans, who spotted the whales while flying over a beach at Longufjorur,
on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.
Police officers from the nearby town of Stykkisholmur have reportedly
now been made aware of this grim discovery.
AP
At the time of writing, it is unclear how many beached whales were seen
at Longufjorur. The area itself is said to be secluded, and cannot be reached
by car.
However, Schwarzhans claims to have seen at least 50 dead long-finned
pilot whales on the lonely beach, noting how there could well be more bodies
hidden beneath the sand.
A pilot for Reykjavik Helicopters, Schwarzhans had reportedly been
taking a group of American tourists for a helicopter sightseeing tour when he
spotted the carcasses.
Schwarzhans told BBC News:
We were flying northbound over the beach and then we saw them. We were
circling over it not sure if it was whales, seals or dolphins. We landed and
counted about 60 but there must have been more because there were fins sticking
out of the sand.
It was tragic and when we stood downwind it was smelly. It wasn’t
something nice to see and quite shocking since there were so many.
It is not currently understood why exactly the whales died, however it
is believed they swam ashore at the same time and became dehydrated. Although
whale beachings are not an uncommon sight at this time of year, the number of
whales in this instance is unusual.
Dozens of dead beached whales have been spotted by sightseers during a helicopter flight over western Iceland. It's unclear how the mammals became beached. 💔 pic.twitter.com/DC0u9w4em4— China News ä¸å›½æ–°é—»ç½‘ (@Echinanews) July 22, 2019
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