A PhD. project on Icelandic humpback whales focused on monitoring entanglement in fishing gear, and encouraging tourists to submit their humpback photos.
As part of a PhD. project conducted by Charla Basran and supervised by Dr. Marianne Rasmussen at the University of Iceland's Husavik Research Centre, we are looking at the scars on humpback whales to determine how many of them have been entangled/caught in fishing gear. The research centre works in collaboration with whale watching companies around Iceland (see the list of links to project collabo
28/03/2026
-English interview within-
A recap of my project using biologging tags to study humpback whale behaviour and ways to reduce entanglement in fishing gear.
Hvölum forðað frá veiðarfærum „Eitt af því helsta sem ég hef verið að vinna að undanfarið er að merkja hnúfubaka og gera síðan það sem kallast spilunartilraunir þar sem ég set það sem kal...
16/12/2024
Today the Icelandic coast guard freed a humpback whale from ropes in south Iceland.
Áhöfn Þórs bjargaði hval sem festist í legufæri - Vísir Áhöfnin á varðskipinu Þór bjargaði hval sem hafði fest sig í legufæri norður af Viðey á sjötta tímanum í dag. Tilkynning barst stjórnstöð Landhelgisgæslunnar í gærkvöld og um miðnætti var séraðgerðasveit Landhelgisgæslunnar send til að kanna málið.
19/12/2023
https://www.researchgate.net/job/1006219_Postdoctoral_scientist_Research_scientist_in_Marine_Biology
POSTDOCTORAL SCIENTIST / RESEARCH SCIENTIST IN MARINE BIOLOGY at Marine and Freshwater Research Institute in Reykjavík, ICELAND Dec 19, 2023 | The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI) in Iceland is seeking a postdoctoral scientist / research scientist in Marine Biology for a... | NEW JOB
19/06/2023
Hvalur flæktist í veiðarfærum á Skjálfandaflóa - RÚV.is Hvalaskoðunarbátar, björgunarsveit og sérfræðingar frá rannsóknasetri Háskóla Íslands á Húsavík komu í gær að aðgerð um vegna hvals sem flækst hafði í veiðarfærum á Skjálfandaflóa.
27/01/2023
The young humpback appeared to be tangled in old, derelect mussel farming lines...
Hopefully an effort can be made to remove them all and stop this from occurring again.
The whale was towed out to sea by the Icelandic coastguard to undergo the natural, important process of a "whale fall".
Áhöfn Baldurs losaði dauðan hval sem festist í botnföstu tógi á Stakksfirði Áhöfn sjómælingaskipsins Baldurs losaði dauðan hval á Stakksfirði í gær sem flækst hafði í botnföstu tógi sem talið er líklegt að sé hluti af kræklingaræktunarbúnaði. Stjórnstöð Landhelgisgæslunnar barst tilkynning um hvalinn fyrr í vikunni.
22/01/2023
A sad discovery of the body of an entangled humpback whale in South Iceland
Hvalur flæktist í hengingaról - Vísir Hræ af hvalskálfi vakti athygli vegfaranda við ströndina við Innri Njarðvík í gær. Hvalurinn virðist hafa hafa flækst í línu af veiðarfærum og hlotið slæman dauðdaga.
28/06/2022
Wonderful to have my article "Using Case Studies to Investigate Cetacean Bycatch/Interaction Under-Reporting in Countries With Reporting Legislation" included as one of many interesting articles in the Frontiers in Marine Science Research Topic ebook titled "Assessment Approaches to Support Bycatch Management for Marine Mammals". You can download the ebook here:
Assessment Approaches to Support Bycatch Management for Marine Mammals Bycatch in marine fisheries is, and long has been, one of the leading sources of human-caused mortality of marine mammals. It has contributed to substantial declines of many populations and species, and at least one species extinction. One well-established approach for managing the anthropogenic imp...
16/02/2021
A whale that we know here in Húsavík is currently entangled in fishing gear, over 6000km away, in its breeding ground in Samana Bay, Domincan Republic.
Rannsóknasetur Háskóla Íslands á Húsavík / Húsavík Research Centre
Hafrannsóknastofnun
28/01/2021
Here is a short video about our entanglement research (in English) 🐋🐋
Hnúfubakar í veiðafærum Að minnsta kosti fjórðungur af hnúfubökum við Íslandsstrendur hefur einhvern tímann á lífsleiðinni flækt sig í veiðarfæri fiskiskipa hér við land og lifað af...
25/01/2021
Our project collaborates with Ocean Missions NGO, and they are looking for two internship students to join us in North Iceland this summer!
Ocean Missions NGO, in collaboration with the Húsavík Research Centre, has two student volunteer internship positions available; combining marine science, social science, and public outreach activities.
Please see the link for all the information and feel free to share this opportunity!
Accepting applications until February 28th.
https://oceanmissions.org/volunteer/
13/11/2020
Our research team and student interns spent tireless hours testing humpback whales' response to "whale pingers" in order to determine if these devices may lower the incidence of whale entanglement and damage to fishing gear. Thanks to everyone's hard-work and dedication, you can read our published results in the latest issue of Aquatic Mammals!
https://www.aquaticmammalsjournal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2100:behavioural-responses-of-humpback-whales-megaptera-novaeangliae-to-two-acoustic-deterrent-devices-in-a-northern-feeding-ground-off-iceland&catid=190&Itemid=326
Photo: Yann Kolbeinsson