The whale in Hobro and Mariager Fjord

The Hobro whale came to Mariager Fjord

On Tuesday 27 November, an unexpected tourist came to town. A sperm whale, as it turned out to be, swam around the inner part of Mariager Fjord in the morning and the distinctive sight caught the eye of many.

However, it didn't take long before the whale went a little astray. At midday there were reports that the whale had come a little too close to shore - and it turned out that it was stranded at... yes, actually at Nedre Strandvej.

The Norwegian Nature Agency arrived quickly on the scene - as did many local citizens, who all had to catch a glimpse of the rare sight. How often do you see a whale in Danish waters? And then even in a fjord? And could it be saved?

"The whale must be bred"

The Marine Mammal Contingency Plan states that such animals should not be assisted. They mostly look for lower waters to die, and experience shows that even if you get them free, they will eventually beach themselves somewhere.

An assessment from a local game consultant from the Norwegian Nature Agency was also that the whale must be sick, and therefore no effort would be made to get the whale out again, as you could both injure and stress it. Nature had to take its course.

Several Hobro citizens would not accept this, however, and a brave woman took matters into her own hands. Wearing only a bathing suit, on a cold November day she jumped down to the ton-heavy whale and began to push it free. Foolish, some would say, but it would prove to be a heroic effort and worthwhile. Two men kept her company in the cold fjord and with the help of several people on land who helped to move a large boat that the whale had gotten a little stuck in, they managed to get the whale free so that it could swim freely again. Denmark's Most Beautiful Fjord.

At first it seemed that the whale was swimming the right way. You could just sense some "puffs" and splashes of water over at the Blåkilde area - at the southern part of the fjord.

But the whale had not had enough of Hobro. Shortly after the rescue operation, the whale swam directly over to the Maritime Culture Center and into the harbor basin in Hobro again.

Hobro the whale – a majestic visit

The whale extended its stay in Hobro by a full 10 days and became an incomparable hit. Every day people thronged the harbor to see the magnificent animal. Several times it was thought that you could predict where it would surface, but the mischievous whale kept finding a new route inside the harbor and the excitement was great every time the whale surfaced to take a breath.

And to the naturalists' amazement, the whale seemed to be fresh and full of energy every day. It continued to swim around in the harbor basin and showed no signs of illness.

A cool whale

For several days it was thought that the whale was a minke whale, when these, among other things, lives on fish and preferably herring and there should supposedly be enough food for the whale. Thanks to a series of close-up photos, however, it turned out to be a sperm whale, which is really a rarity in Denmark. The last time a sperm whale was seen in Denmark was in 1980, when a sperm whale stranded at Nordals - and one is tempted to say that the location Als obviously attracts sperm whales.

The first whale swam to the island of Als in Southern Jutland and perhaps the Hobro whale also had this destination in mind. In any case, the humpback whale chose to turn sharply to the right out in the Kattegat when it reached the town of Als, at the mouth of Mariager Fjord. Whether the whale just wanted to go to Als or whether it simply passed Als Odde to experience Denmark's Most Beautiful Fjord is not known. But a strange coincidence it is.  

The whale on land

In 2018, the whale managed to swim around Hobro Harbor for 10 days before it was found stranded and dead at Ørnedalsbugten near Hobro on Friday 7 December.

Two days later, the 8-tonne whale was transported to Hobro with the help of both divers and ships.

The plan was for the wooden ship Jagten Valkyrien to tow the whale into Hobro Harbour, where a crane would then lift it onto land. It all went as it should and thousands of people thronged again to witness the event. The roof and stairs of the shipwright's house were crammed to the brim with people, and all along the edge of the harbor people stood ready to see the magnificent sight that is when a whale has to be transported ashore.

The last time so many people were gathered at the harbor was when Skoleskibet Danmark visited Hobro Harbor earlier this year - and in 2017, when Queen Margrethe docked with the Royal Ship Dannebrog.

And it also looked majestic and beautiful when the Valkyrie came sailing into Mariager Fjord with the famous whale attached to the left side of the wooden ship. There was a nice and dignified way to do it, for the whale, which in the last few weeks has meant a lot to many citizens in both Hobro and the rest of Denmark. 

It succeeded in getting the whale ashore, and everyone who took part in the action was thanked by the citizens present with applause and respect.

The whale was placed on a tarpaulin at Hobro Shipyard and anyone who wanted to could, in the following days, be allowed to "say goodbye" to the Hobro whale and even get the unique opportunity to touch a real whale before Tuesday 11 December. had to be autopsied and dissected.

It turned out to be a boy

Tuesday morning at At 10:00 a.m., several experts set about cutting up the whale in front of an enthusiastic audience.

Along the way, the experts told about several of the whale's organs and showed them to the audience, which consisted of both school classes and other curious citizens.

During the autopsy, it turned out that the sperm whale was male and that it is probably a fairly young whale - a more precise age determination will take place when several of the parts are examined at Aarhus University Hospital.

At 7,7 metres, the whale was far from the vicinity of a full-grown pilot whale, which is normally 12-14 meters long.

In addition, there are many indications that the whale has had a heart defect, and a cardiologist who was present was able to determine that it had a narrowing of a main artery. Whether this was the cause of death is not yet known. Research must now be carried out into the many organs and parts that the experts cut out, and hopefully one can get closer to the exact cause of death, as well as learn more about pilot whales in general.

The skeleton has now been taken to the Statens Natural History Museum in Copenhagen, where it will be cleaned and exhibited.

Hopefully in the future we can borrow the skeleton of the deceased Hobro whale so that it can be exhibited in the area where it chose to end its days.

At least we hope to see the Hobro whale in Hobro again.

Updated by:
Destination Himmerland | info@destinationhimmerland.dk