Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The endangered
seihval
(sei whales), a baleen whale, swim off the coast of Finnmark
andarenamedbecausetheirarrivalcorrespondswiththatofthe
sei
(pollacks),whichcome
tofeastontheseasonalplankton.Theycanmeasure18mandweighupto30tonnes(calves
measure5matbirth).Theannualmigrationtakesthe
sei
fromtheseasoffnorthwestAfrica
and Portugal (winter) up to the Norwegian Sea and southern Barents Sea in summer.
Finhval
(fin whales) measure 24m and can weigh 80 tonnes. These whales were a prime
target after the Norwegian Svend Føyn developed the exploding harpoon in 1864 and un-
regulated whalers left only a few thousand in the North Atlantic. Fin whales are also mi-
gratory, wintering between Spain and southern Norway and spending summer in northern
Norway.
Spermsetthval
(sperm whales), which can measure 19m and weigh up to 50 tonnes, are
characterised by their odd squarish profile. They subsist mainly on fish and squid and usu-
ally live in pods of 15 to 20. Their numbers were depleted by whalers seeking whale oil
and the valuable spermaceti wax from their heads. The fish-rich shoals off Vesterålen at-
tract quite a few sperm whales and they're often observed on boat tours.
Possibly the largest animal to ever inhabit the earth, the longest blue whale ever caught measured 33.58m;
50 people could fit on its tongue alone.
The largest animal on earth,
blåhval
(blue whales), measure around 28m and weigh in
at a staggering 110 tonnes. Although they can live to 80 years of age, 50 is more com-
mon. Heavily hunted for its oil, the species finally received protection, far too late, from
the International Whaling Commission in 1967. Prior to 1864, there were between 6000
and 9000, but only a few hundred remain in the world's oceans (although some Norwegi-
an estimates put the number at around 11,000). Recent evidence suggests that a few hardy
blue whales are making a comeback in the northeast Atlantic.
Grønlandshval
(bowhead whales), or Greenland right whales, were virtually annihilated
by the end of the 19th century for their baleen, which was used in corsets, fans and whips,
and because they are slow swimmers and float when dead. In 1679 Svalbard had around
25,000 bowheads, but only a handful remains and worldwide numbers are critically low.
To read about Norway's controversial stance on commercial whaling,
Click here
.
Other Marine Mammals
Norway's waters shelter reasonable populations of bottlenose, white-beaked, Atlantic
white-sided and common dolphins.
