About 60 pilot whales that became trapped in the shallow waters of an Icelandic fjord have been rescued for the second time in two days, having been herded out to sea the day before.
The pod first became trapped in Kolgrafarfjorur fjord in the country's west on Sunday night, but were ushered out by rescue workers, the Iceland Monitor reported.
But the whales returned on Monday morning, swimming into the fjord and becoming stranded in the shallows of the low tide.
A group of nearby kayakers were able to paddle alongside the pod for some hours before Iceland's search and rescue team ICE-SAR used the change of tide to herd them back out to the open waters of Breiafjorur Bay.
By midnight on Monday the rescue team, which involved 22 rescue workers, three police officers and four boats, had herded the whales past the strong currents of the fjord and right out to sea where they were then seen swimming northwest, the Iceland Monitor reported.
There has been no sight of the whales in the fjord since.
