A significant number of blue whales visit Skjálfandi Bay every year as many people whale-watching from Husavik can bear witness. During our yearly whale congress, held by the Whale Museum in Húsavík and The University of Iceland’s Research Center in Húsavík, information about the number of blue whales sighted by researchers in Skjáldandi Bay was revealed. A research project concerned with counting the blue whales in the bay is being conducted by the staff and students at the research center. The project makes use of photo ID to analyze the blue whale population in the bay. According to Dr. Marianne Helene Rasmussen, director of the research center og project leader, 172 different individuals have visited the bay during the time span 2001-2015. It is estimated that the North Atlantic blue whale population is approximately 1000 animals. This means that more than 17% of the North Atlantic blue whales have been visiting Skjálfandi Bay. Due to whaling in the past blue whales are still endangered worldwide and currently the status of the population is not known with certainty. This among others Marianne revealed in her talk about the research on whales in Skjáldandi Bay.
