As you all know, on Friday the 5th of September there was a press release in a local newspaper about a pilot whale mass stranding in Norway. We prioritized actions towards beeing able to get access to the carcasses from the first day the stranding was notified. 

Unfortunately, the local government in the municipality of Vikna (where the animals were found), responsible of the handling of the carcasses since there is no national body in charge of it, had stored the carcasses in a way that they resulted totally unaccesible and the decomposition process accelerated. Still we can not confirm whether the carcasses have been ultimately disposed, but none of the individual carcasses, nor samples of them are available for research.

I will produce a report and some extra documentation about the case with images, videos, maps, testimonies from locals and information about the area and human activities during the course of the weekend after I have finished some more interviews with locals, that will be available to any interested individual or organization.

I also want to take the opportunity to thank everyone that was interested in participating,, all those of you who provided us with advice, offered your facilities and resources to elucidate this case and all those who have been interested in it. Thanks for your patience too in awaiting for more information.

Thank you,

Marta Acosta Plata
MAREFA