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More than 60 pilot whales were stranded on a beach near the northern Icelandic town of Ólafsfjörður, prompting an urgent rescue operation involving local emergency services and community volunteers.
Rescue teams from the Tröllaskagi region and Akureyri were called out to respond to the mass beaching on June 21, according to Hinrik Wöhler, a deputy spokesperson for ICE-SAR (Icelandic Search and Rescue), reported the Iceland Monitor.
A video of the scene was shared by Karolina Rudnicka on Instagram (@karolinaruudnicka) and TikTok (@charlotte_9877). Rudnicka has been living in Siglufjörður, a nearby town, for a few years. She works as a kindergarten teacher but also does photography on the side.
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The viral clip, which has garnered 690,000 views on Instagram and over 188,000 views on TikTok since it was posted on June 23, shows the whales moving helplessly in shallow waters.
Text overlaid on the video read: "Yesterday, more than 60 whales were stranded on a beach in a small town in northern Iceland … it was a serious situation, as the low water level prevented them from swimming back to the ocean and they were at risk of dying quickly."
The poster told Newsweek: "At first, the whales were swimming in the harbor, but later—likely due to the tide going out—they became stranded on the beach" and "locals were deeply concerned about the situation."
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Rudnicka had heard from locals that the whales were in the harbor, so she went there hoping to capture a few drone shots. "But when I got there, I saw they had already become stranded—it was heartbreaking. It was even hard to take pictures because all I could think about was how to help them," she noted.
After a while, more locals and rescue teams arrived on the scene, with some entering "the freezing water in just shorts, helping the whales one by one, until eventually...they saved every single one," she said, noting "it was an incredible relief and such an emotional moment to witness."
Lára Stefánsdóttir, the regional manager of the search and rescue team Tindur in Ólafsfjörður, said the rising tide played a critical role in the rescue efforts.
"It went incredibly well. I was very surprised when I arrived and saw 60 to 70 whales stranded on the shore—I thought it was unlikely we'd be able to do anything," Stefánsdóttir told RÚV, Iceland's national broadcaster. "But people quickly showed up and found a way to drag the whales back out."
Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove is a professional wildlife and landscape photographer based in Iceland, who actively monitors such incidents. He told Newsweek the reasons behind whale strandings are complex and debated. "There is a lot of debate on why these kinds of beachings happen, and there are many possible causes," he said. "Over the years, there has been indication that sonar [sound navigation and ranging] has been influencing their navigating abilities."
Van Nieuwenhove also pointed to environmental change as a potential factor. He said that "there's also an indication that climate change, influencing where the whale's food goes, may be a factor at play."
Scientific research supports the idea that these events are not fully understood. A study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin in December 2023 noted that "long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) are the most frequently stranded cetaceans in the world; however, the predominant drivers of these events are poorly understood."
Stefánsdóttir told RÚV: "I didn't expect it, but every single animal made it back out. What condition they're in now or what will happen to them, I have no idea. But they all swam away."
While such large-scale strandings are uncommon in Iceland, Van Nieuwenhove said they are not unprecedented. "Large beachings like this are not common at all, but it has occurred in the past where pilot whales have either beached themselves or gotten themselves stuck in a fjord system," he said.
"Very recently, an injured orca also beached itself near Reykjavík. It was rescued twice but shortly after beached itself again … after which it was euthanized. This animal was deemed to be sick or injured."
Van Nieuwenhove added that, due to Iceland's sparse population along much of its coast, similar events may sometimes go unnoticed. "A lot of Iceland's coastline is uninhabited so in some cases, these events are perhaps not even noticed by people," he said.
Rudnicka told Newsweek: "I'm deeply grateful to every single person who stepped in to help. These are the small, yet powerful acts we truly need in today's world. There was nothing more moving than watching those animals swim back to freedom."
Newsweek has contacted Icelandic Search and Rescue via email.
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Update 06/30/25, 6:53 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from the original poster.
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