Balaenoptera physalus

SIZE: Male- 18-22m, Female- 20-23m

The fin whale is the second-largest animal on Earth, after the blue whale, and was once nicknamed the “greyhound of the sea” because of its remarkable speed and beautifully streamlined body. Like other baleen whales, fin whales are filter feeders, using their baleen plates to strain food from the water.

Fin whales are found throughout Icelandic waters, but they generally spend much of their time further offshore and in deeper water, making them less common to encounter on whale watching tours. They have nevertheless been documented in Breiðafjörður, including from our tours in Ólafsvík in the past few years. They feed mainly on small schooling fish and plankton, and they may come closer to shore when large concentrations of capelin gather in Icelandic waters during spring.

Like many baleen whales, fin whales migrate between feeding grounds and warmer waters, where they breed and give birth. Their seasonal movements can vary, and there is still much to learn about their behaviour and migration patterns.

Fin whales have a long and difficult history with commercial whaling. Their size, speed and large amounts of oil and meat made them a major target when modern whaling technology made it possible to hunt fast-swimming whales on an industrial scale. Iceland resumed commercial whaling in 2006 after the international moratorium on commercial whaling came into effect in 1986. After no whales were hunted in Iceland in 2024 or 2025, commercial fin whaling resumed again in 2026. The quota this year was 150 fin whales, and 93 individuals had been caught by the end of the season.

Fin whales are currently classified as vulnerable globally. Iceland’s government has announced plans to submit legislation in February 2027 that could permanently ban commercial whaling, meaning the future of the hunt in Iceland is currently under discussion.

If you are visiting Iceland, please consider not eating whale meat and choosing restaurants that do not serve it. Organisations such as IFAW and Hvalavinir run the Meet Us, Don’t Eat Us and For the Love of Iceland campaigns, which encourage visitors to support whale-friendly tourism instead and you can also support them.