The Forgotten Giants: Iceland’s Unrivaled 19th-Century Mass Strandings

Over 200 years ago, Iceland was the site of two of the most significant cetacean mass strandings in documented history. These two strandings would result in the deaths of 3000 long finned black dolphins (pilot whales). Uniquely, both events occurred within just four years of one another in the exact same region. One of these stands as the largest single mass stranding in recorded history worldwide—while the other rivalled the famous 1918 stranding of 1,000 pilot whales in New Zealand’s Chatham Islands. (See note below concerning the New Zealand stranding).

1809: Akranes, Faxaflói Bay

In 1809, an estimated 1,000 long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) stranded along the shallow, low-sloping mudflats near Akranes in southwestern Iceland. In Icelandic cetacean literature, this is widely cited as the earliest formally documented major pilot whale mass stranding in the nation’s historical records. The gently sloping bathymetry of Faxaflói Bay is thought to have disrupted the whales’ echolocation, a factor that continues to cause strandings in the region today.

1813: Snæfellsnes Peninsula, Faxaflói Bay

Just four years later, a second mass stranding occurred along the Snæfellsnes peninsula, involving approximately 2,000 long-finned pilot whales. To this day, the 1813 Snæfellsnes incident remains the single largest mass stranding of cetaceans ever recorded anywhere in the world.

A Lifeline for Local Communities

In 19th-century Iceland, these tragic events were viewed through a very different lens. Regional annals recorded the 1809 and 1813 incidents primarily as major resource windfalls—referred to in Icelandic as hvalreki (literally "whale drift," the origin of the modern Icelandic idiom for a windfall or stroke of good fortune). Coastal communities mobilized rapidly to harvest the meat and blubber, documenting the sheer magnitude of the herds (~1,000 and ~2,000 individuals) as a vital safeguard against hardship and winter famine.

Note on the New Zealand stranding: The "1,000 black dolphins in 1918" story originated from retrospective compilation of mid-20th-century marine mammal databases, rather than a verified contemporary 1918 newspaper report. The Primary Catalyst: Dr. Warren Brabyn (1991). The primary entry point for this event into modern global science was a major academic publication in 1991: Dr. Warren Brabyn’s An Atlas of Cetacean Strandings in New Zealand (published by the Department of Conservation). Brabyn attempted to catalog every known New Zealand stranding from 1840 to 1987. For early 20th-century events in isolated locations like the Chatham Islands, he relied on: Hand-written museum records (like those held at the Dominion Museum/Te Papa). Unpublished personal diaries and letters from early settlers and naturalists. Unverified local council/regional archives and oral tradition passed down by Chatham Islanders. Brabyn recorded the 1918 event based on these secondary notes. Because his atlas became the official foundation for the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) Stranding Database, the 1918 entry was codified into law and official science. The Global "Citation Loop" Once an entry enters an official government database, it becomes a "truth anchor" for global academia: 1991: DOC publishes Brabyn’s atlas listing ~1,000 whales in 1918. 2000s: Global scientific bodies (e.g., the International Whaling Commission) and references like Te Ara (Encyclopedia of New Zealand) cite the DOC database. Present: Popular websites, media, and Wikipedia cite Te Ara or DOC, creating a closed loop of self-referencing authorities where no one goes back to check for the missing 1918 primary source. Was It a Real Event Misdated, or an Exaggeration? Historical marine biologists who have looked back at the Brabyn records suspect two main possibilities: Conflation with another year: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, massive pilot whale strandings occurred frequently on Long Beach. An un-dated massive stranding recorded in a settler's journal may have simply been assigned the arbitrary year "1918" when cataloged decades later. A Visual Estimate of a Real Disaster: Mass strandings on Long Beach can span several kilometers. When islanders came across hundreds of decaying carcasses stretched across the bay, an offhand estimate of "must be a thousand of 'em" was likely written in a personal note or ledger, which eventually became the fixed historical figure "1,000". It was created by early 20th-century oral history and informal records being formalized into a government database in 1991, where it was transformed from a rough local estimate into an official historical record.

June update, Fireballs, Strandings and Asteroid Flyby

Fireballs reported in Florida, Newport in California, Hawaii, UK and Bay of Biscay. Cetaceans ashore in the Shetlands, UK (Sowerby’s beaked whale), California, Iceland, Alaska (pregnant Cuvier's beaked whale), Oregon, Honolulu (Blainville’s beaked whale), Canada, Vietnam, and Japan.

Asteroid: (2026 LS1). Diameter: 14 m - 32 m. Flyby: 2026, Jun 13. Close Approach Time: 06:48 ± < 00:01. Velocity (VRE): 8.34km/s. Drop Line: 2 hours.

Image: NASA

A mass whale stranding in Iceland

2025, June 21. Iceland, Akureyri, beach in Ólafsfjörður. A mass stranding of 60 pilot whales. Rescue crews from Siglufjörður, Akureyri, Dalvík, and Ólafsfjörður are working alongside police and fire services to assist the whales. There are still 15 cetaceans ashore. Updates to come. 20250622: A report from rescuers that between 60 to 70 whales have been refloated. Even though in deeper water, it is unclear whether they will remain this way, and the possibility of individuals restranding is high. 

Image: Björn Andri Sigfússon  

Killer Whale stranded in Iceland

2025, June 10. Iceland, Reykjavík, Korpúlfsstaðir, Grafarvogur neighbourhood, Gorvík bay. An orca has stranded near the Korpa golf course in Reykjavík. Rescue workers are attempting to refloat the animal.

Update: 12062025, the Orca has been successfully refloated.

Update: 13062025, the Orca restranded and was unfortunately euthanised. 

2025, June 6. USA, Alaska, Kodiak Island, Surfer’s Beach. A sub adult male gray whale, about 30 feet long corpse washed up near the southern end of Kodiak’s road system. Death due to Orca mortality. It's the fourth dead whale reported around the archipelago this year and the seventh found around Alaska. 

Mass Whale stranding in Western Australia

2025, April 27. Western Australia. Meteors. Detected on camera within hour of each other. The event parameters at Albany were. LLB: (-35.48, 118.29). LLE: (-34.62, 117.41). HB: 120.5 km, HE: 102.3 km. Duration: 1.92 sec. Vel: 67.16 km/s. Travelling NW for 124 km.  

2025, April 30. Western Australia. Meteor. Detected on camera at a long distance.

2025, May 1. Queensland, K'gari (Frazer Island). Juvenile Brydes Whale stranded. Outcome unknown.

2025, May 4. Philippines, Brgy. Minabel, Camiguin Norte. A large dead whale, species not known.

2025, May 4. Iceland. Two dolphins in an advanced state of decomposition.

2025, May 4. India, Mumbai, Juhu beach. A rare occurrence of a dead pink dolphin.

2025, May 4. Wales, Pwll Llanddu. Dead common dolphin.  

2025, May 5. Bangladesh, The Rupnarayan River, village of Mankur in Bagnan 1 Block at the end of Howrah district. An adult Gangetic dolphin was recovered from the riverbank.  

2025, May 5. New South Wales, Manly. Risso’s Dolphin calf. the calf had sustained minor predation wounds and was euthanised.

2025, May 5. South Australia, Henley Beach. Dead Great White Shark (Total of four dead individuals). The incident follows the discovery of dead sharks at Ardrossan, Aldinga and Port Willunga in recent weeks. Experts are concerned it could be connected to the algae bloom.

2025, May 5. Western Australia, House Beach, 12km east of Bremer Bay. A mass stranding of seven false killer whales. Four died initially with three refloated. One restranded and euthanised. These cetaceans could be individuals separated from the large pod stranding of FKW in Tasmania on February 19. 

Bangladesh: Gangetic Dolphin

Western Australia: Mass Stranding and meteor event locations.

Cetacean strandings since April 17

 2025, April 17. USA, California, San Diego, Nahant Court in Mission Beach. A dead dolphin.

2025, April 17? UK, Anglesey, beach near Rhosneigr (Porth Tyn Tywyn). Dead bottlenose dolphin.

2025, April 18. USA, Massachusetts, Duxbury. A Atlantic White-Sided dolphin stranded and died.

2025, April 19. USA, Washington, near Cape Disappointment, Ilwaco, Long Beach, about four miles north of Seaview. A female dead gray whale. The whale was the fifth reported dead in Washington so far this year. Note: Two dead whales washed up along the Oregon coast last spring, and three others washed up in the span of a week in January 2023. Two of those five were also gray whales; the other three were a fin whale, a humpback whale and a sperm whale.

2025, April 17. Cambodia, Kampot province, Trery Koh commune. A pink dolphin ws found dead off shore. It weighed about 50kg and was 1.98 meters long.

2025, April 20. UK, Devon, Paignton beach then Torquay Harbour. Dead dolphin restranded after attempted refloat and died.

2025, April 21. Philippines, Lianga. Dead beaked whale.

2025, April 20. USA, California, San Francisco Bay off of Alameda. A dead whale found floating near shore.

2025, April 21. Iceland, north east, Njarðvík by Borgarfjörður eystri. Sowerbys Beaked Whale found washed ashore dead.

2025, April 21. USA, California, Torrey Pines State Beach, north of San Diego. A total of 12 dolphins in three weeks. The stranding team from NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center recovered 16 dead dolphins from San Diego beaches on Sunday, April 20. These deaths add to the likely toll of a domoic acid outbreak produced by a harmful algae bloom off Southern California. Note: As of 27th April deaths continue.

2025, April 21. Philippines, Lianga Bay, Surigao del Sur, coast of Brgy. A stranded cetacean was identified as a Longman’s beaked whale.

2025, April 21. Mexico, San Antonio del Mar. Dead beaked whale.

2025, April 21. UK, Wales, Traeth Crigyll, the main beach at Rhosneigr. A dead bottlenose dolphin.

2025, April 22. Belize. Location is between Stank Bank and Drowned Cayes Area, or to a greater extent between Belize City and Turneffe Atoll. A mass whale stranding of 30 false killer whales. They self escaped to deeper water.

2025, April 23. US, California, Ventura. Dead Humpback.

2025, April 23. USA, North Carolina, Emerald Isle. A pygmy sperm whale calf died after being stranded.

2025, April 25 (reported). Saudi Arabia, Red Sea coast. Two dolphins found dead this year so far.

2025, April 25. Bangladesh, Rajshahi at Talaimari Fultala Ghat on the banks of Padma River. A Irrawaddy dolphin washed ashore dead.

2025, April 26. Mexico, Gulf of California, Las Conchas, south of Puerto Peñasco. Dead whale in advanced state of decomposition. A dolphin and two turtles washed ashore two weeks ago in the same area.

2025, April 26. USA, Maryland, Ocean City’s back bay. A dead and decomposing whale has become stranded on a sandbar in. The cetacean became stuck in just a few inches of water in the area off Harbour Island and Purnell Island.

Note: there has been whale and dolphin deaths reported in Pacific coast Guatemala.

The 2019 Multiple Mass Dolphin Strandings in Iceland

2019, May 26. North Atlantic Ocean. Airburst. 56.6N, 25.3W. Time: 10:07. e = 0.14. 822 km from S.W Iceland. Altitude: 24.4 km. Velocity 17.5 km/s. 900km south of evets below.

2019, July 18. Iceland, Snaefellsnes Peninsula in western Iceland. 50 long-finned pilot whales on the shore. Concentrated in one spot and are thought to have swum ashore at the same time. Were half buried in sand, some might have been totaly buried so numbers could have been much higher.

2019, August 3, Iceland, Southwest Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula, Beach at Garður. 3 weeks after first one. 50 to 70 Black Dolphins. 30 returned to sea.

(Supplied: David Schwarzhans via AP)  

2019 Airburst and Stranding

Stranding, hunting and wind farms

2024, June 14. Bangladesh, Kuakata Beach. A 10-foot long bottlenose dolphin was found washed up in Patuakhali. Members of the Dolphin Conservation Committee and forest department are investigating.

2024, June 14. Iceland. 128 Fin whales approved for slaughter in Iceland. This quota will never be filled, nowhere near it if any at all. The decline in consumption of whale products worldwide is now almost nil.

2024, June 14. Australia, Illawarra. Wind farm gets the green light; however, it is pushed offshore. An extra 10 km further out means increased fuel used by support teams to build and maintain assets. This is not good for the environment. There is no impact on whales by windfarms.