Revisiting the "Center of the Earth" - Iceland's Snaefellsnes Peninsula Loving life means never getting tired of exploring.

ICELAND | Tuesday, 2 July 2013 | Views [290] | View Smaller Image

The carcass of a male sperm whale that washed ashore at Snaefellsnes Peninsula in spring 2012. These whales can grow up to 20 metres in length and weigh over 55 tons. Their species is the largest living toothed animal and the deepest diving mammal on earth. The white scars on many sperm whales' heads are believed to come from fights with giant squids that are one of their primary preys. The clicking vocalizations of sperm whales are by far the loudest sound produced by any animal.

In April 2012 the rugged shoreline of Snaefellsnes National Park became the scene for another extraordinary event. As if the volcano had spit out one of Jules Verne's fictitious creatures, the carcass of one of the most fascinating and mysterious ocean animals of our times had beached right at the bottom of the snow-covered, incandescent peak of Snaefellsjökull. A group of scientists and photographers set out to Snaefellsnes in order to inspect the carcass of a male sperm whale.

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With about 13 metres in length, this sperm whale was a comparatively small specimen. Despite the fact that sperm whales are rather abundant and although their range covers almost all oceans, their anatomy and behavior still hold quite a few secrets. The reason for the enormous size of their heads compared to the lower jaw, for instance, is not yet well understood.

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Revisiting the "Center of the Earth" - Iceland's Snaefellsnes Peninsula Loving life means never getting tired of exploring.

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