The northern bottlenose whales have made the headlines in Iceland for a big portion of this summer. First, because of several stranded individuals within a short period of time in July and then, shortly after that, they were sighted in Skjálfandi Bay during whale watching trips (see news from the 7^th of August) and have been in the bay ever since. The 4 individuals spotted are split in pairs, with one pair being a cow and its calf.  
Not much later, 2 Northern bottlenose whales appeared in Eyjafjörður, close to Akureyri, and have been spotted in the shallowest areas of the fjord. All animals seem quite active, showing behaviours such as lobtailing, spyhopping and breaching. However, being a deep-sea species that mainly feeds on squid in up to 1000m depth, concerns about their well-being have been raised amongst several researchers. Theories such as parasitic infestations or even military sonar testing, that is known to have led to strandings in the past, have been discussed. Unfortunately there have been no attempts to either examine the stranded animals or to perform intensive research on the ones close to shore by the responsible authorities.