Wildlife - Norway - page 975

Whales
The seas around Norway are rich fishing grounds, due to the ideal summer conditions for
thegrowthofplankton.Thiswealthofnutrientsalsoattracts fishandbaleenwhales,which
feedontheplankton,aswellasothermarinecreaturesthatfeedonthefish.Sadly,centuries
of whaling in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans have reduced several whale species to
perilously small populations. Apartfromtheminkewhale,there'snosignthatthenumbers
will ever recover in this area. Given this history, the variety of whale species in Norway's
waters is astonishing.
Whale- Watching
» Stø
» Andenes
» Narvik
» Henningsvær
» Kabelvåg
Minkehval (minkewhales),oneofthefewwhalespeciesthatisnotendangered,measure
around7mto10mlongandweigh between 5and10tonnes. They're baleen whales, which
meansthattheyhaveplatesofwhalebonebaleenratherthanteeth,andmigratebetweenthe
Azores area and Svalbard.
BetweenÅlesundandVarangerhalvøya,it'spossibletosee knolhval (humpbackwhales),
baleen whales that measure up to 15m and weigh up to 30 tonnes. These are among the
most acrobatic and most vocal of whales, producing deep songs that can be heard and re-
corded hundreds of kilometres away.
Spekkhogger (killer whales), or orcas, are the top sea predators and measure up to 7m
and weigh around 5 tonnes. There are around 1500 off the coast of Norway, swimming in
pods of two or three. They eat fish, seals, dolphins, porpoises and other whales (such as
minke), which may be larger than themselves.
The long-finned grindhval (pilot whales), about 6m long, may swim in pods of up to
several hundred and range as far north as Nordkapp. Hvithval (belugas), which are up to
4m long, are found mainly in the Arctic Ocean.
The grey and white narhval (narwhal), which grow up to 3.5m long, are best recognised
by the peculiar 2.7m spiral ivory tusk that projects from the upper lip of the males. This
tusk is in fact one of the whale's two teeth and was prized in medieval times. Narwhal live
mainly in the Arctic Ocean and occasionally head upstream into freshwater.