söndag 1 augusti 2010

Summer in Lofoten

After a season of intense fieldwork as a marine mammal biologist in Vestfjorden, Lofoten I have now returned home to Troms again and it is time to sum up some of the impressions.
It was a long field-season with many wonderful and magic moments out at sea, including encounters with both our smallest cetacean, the Harbour Porpoise and our largest, the Fin Whale, Unfortunately there were also too many encounters with whalers and the sound of the harpoon going off in the hunt for the minke whale as Norway is still one of the few whale hunting countries in the world. The small selection of pictures below will have to speak for themselves.
Slavonian Grebe/Svarthakedopping/Horndykker


White-tailed Sea Eagle/Havsörn/Havørn

Herring Gull/Gråtrut/Gråmåke in rainy weather

Northern Wheatear/Stenskvätta/Steinskvett


Cross Jellyfish/Korsmaneter (Staurophora mertensi)



Sea Urchin/Sjöborre/Kråkeboll (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis)



Vestfjorden offered first-class fishing for cod and mackerell !


The shy Harbour Porpoise/Tumlare/Nise (Phocoena phocoena)

Two Long-finned Pilot Whales/Grindval outside Moholmen in Vestfjorden


Long-finned Pilot Whale/Grindval/Grindhval (Globicephala melas)

Tail-slapping Long-finned Pilot Whale/Grindval


Curious Long-finned Pilot Whale/Grindval/Grindhval


Long-finned Pilot Whales/Grindval in Vestfjorden


Norwegian whaler hunting for minke whales/vikval/vågehval in Vestfjorden

Minke Whale/Vikval/Vågehval (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)