– It is not common to see them in this area. White whales are an Arctic species that are not common in Norwegian waters, says research leader Anna Victoria Pyne Vinje for the organization OneWhale in an email to SA.
The white whale is said to have been seen in the waters off Høysand on several occasions in recent weeks.
There is an endangered permanent population in the areas around Svalbard. The whale species is also sometimes observed along the Norwegian coast, particularly in the northern areas of Troms and Finnmark.
– The white whale Hvaldimir has previously been observed in the Oslo Fjord, but it is rare to see white whales here, Vinje explains.
Several reasons
She points to several possible reasons why the whale may appear to have taken up temporary residence in Skjebergkilen. SA has found out that the whale has been in the area for at least two weeks.
– Whales can become disoriented by changes in water temperature, noise pollution or human activity such as maritime traffic, fishing, pollution and forcing whales to seek new areas. Other times, whales deviate from their usual routes due to navigation errors, and end up in unknown waters, says Vinje.
Health challenges or persecution can also send the whale astray.
– Sick or injured whales lose their ability to navigate, and seek food or shelter outside their usual habitat. They can also be chased by predators, they then flee to new areas to avoid danger. Some whales also leave their habitats due to social conflicts or changes in group dynamics.
Avoid disturbing it
Vinje has clear advice on how the sarpinges and others who might want to experience the animal should approach it.
– It is important to avoid unnecessary disturbance of the animal and to keep a safe distance from both it and other marine animals.
Image series
PHOTOS: White whale in Høysand
If the animal appears near your boat, put the engine in neutral or turn it off to avoid harming the animal.
But most preferably:
– Observe the animal from a distance, is the clear call from Vinje.
Have followed Hvaldimir
OneWhale has been following the eventually world-famous whale Hvaldimir for a long time, after it appeared outside Finnmark back in 2019.
Vinje was able to inform SA on Friday that Hvaldimir was currently outside Rogaland, and that it was therefore not him who was in Skjebergkilen. In fact, they had to rush out to see him after he got tangled in a fishing net.
– The fire service had to move out to help free Hvaldimir from fishing nets just outside Tau last night (May 3 journal note). The police informed me of this situation while I was out in the field looking for him for data collection. We at OneWhale immediately traveled to the area to ascertain his condition. Yesterday, while we were on our way back to shore after several hours of searching, Hvaldimir suddenly appeared next to our boat.
However, the whale aroused the curiosity of several people, and the small boat activity ended up scaring the animal away, as you can see in the video above.
“Unfortunately, he was quickly frightened by several leisure boats that approached at great speed, and we could not complete our mission of collecting samples and respiration measurements from him,” says Vinje.
