Whales in Skjálfandaflói: Hnýðingur

Then it's time to introduce tubers to the game, but they are quite a common sight in Skjálfandaflói.

Latin name: Lagenorhynchus albirostris   
English name: White-beaked dolphin  
Icelandic name:  A tuber
Average lifespan: 30 – 40 years         
Food choices: Fish, crustaceans and octopuses  
Size: approximately 3 meters           
Weight: 180 350-kg

Tubers are endemic to the North Atlantic. It can only be found from the northeast coast of the United States and northwest Europe up to Spitsbergen in Svalbard. Tubers are very social. They live in groups numbering anywhere from five to 50, but under special conditions the groups can be anywhere from 100 to 1000 tubers. Sometimes the groups are divided by gender.

Tubers can swim very fast or up to 45 km/h. When traveling at maximum speed, they sometimes leap along what they swim.
Tubers become sexually mature at about 7 years old. Availability is from May to September. The gestation period is 11 months and when the calves are born they are 1 meter long and weigh 40 kg.  

Young tubers love to play in the wake of boats and larger whales. They enjoy it so much that they sometimes harass whales to make them swim faster so that a wake is created.

Each tuber has a specific pitch that other tubers can distinguish through the whistles and clicks they emit.

Tubers can be found in Skjálfandaflói all year round. During the summer you can sometimes see mother and offspring together.

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