For the second time in less than a month, a large pod of pilot whales has been discovered stranded on an Icelandic beach.Two-thirds of them were saved and driven back out to sea.

The exact species is not known. Part of the carcass has ballooned with gas, a common occurrence with beached whales.

An unusually high number of northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus) have been sighted in fjords in North and East Iceland.

Nine whales have been stranded so far this year in East Iceland. Bottlenose whales and Curvier’s beaked whales are members of the family Ziphiidae and it’s often been said that they are more sensitive to noise pollution in the ocean.