In Memory of Mikkel Villum Jensen Published 30.07.2025

MIKKEL VILLUM JENSEN (1964–2025)

In the 1990s, whale research transitioned from being solely based on whale observations and the examination of samples from whaling, to include the instrumentation of whales with satellite transmitters and various measuring devices. This also meant that biologists needed help designing instruments that could be attached to whales, and in developing methods for tagging free-swimming large whales.

A newly graduated Mikkel from the Danish Design School had been fascinated by the sea his whole life. When he was asked in 1999 if he could make some satellite transmitters for whales — and perhaps travel to Greenland to test them — he immediately jumped at the opportunity.

This became the beginning of an extensive career as a “designer” and precision mechanic in whale research. One of his first contributions was helping to develop an air gun (ARTS) to shoot transmitters into the blubber of large whales. The air gun was later described in a scientific journal and remains the most cited article from the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources. It was initially used on bowhead whales and other large whales in Greenland, but today it is used worldwide and has been involved in the tagging of several thousand whales.

The air gun alone was not enough for the biologists, who also wanted to be able to attach larger and heavier instruments to whales. Mikkel therefore invented the so-called “Villum pole,” a monstrous 8-meter-long fiberglass pole, made from two windsurfing masts. The “Villum pole” was also first introduced in Greenland but has since been used in places such as Alaska, Brazil, Iceland, and Mauritius.

Mikkel was also responsible for the design of the whale tags and was in close contact both with the suppliers of the electronics and with Greenlandic hunters who knew the animals and shared knowledge about traditional tools that inspired the tag designs. It was crucial to the development of the new tags that Mikkel had experience both from fieldwork and the tagging itself, as well as from the mechanical and electronic design process.

Mikkel worked in many parts of Greenland as a consultant for the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources. In Disko Bay, he tagged humpback and bowhead whales; in Nuuk and Sisimiut, fin and minke whales; in Qaanaaq, walruses and narwhals; in Niaqornat, he tagged narwhals while simultaneously renovating GN’s house; and in Melville Bay and Kangerlussuaq, East Greenland, he tagged narwhals. His knowledge of the sea and sailing earned him great respect, while his boundless energy, slightly madcap approach, and relaxed lifestyle opened many doors. There was always a lot of laughter when Mikkel was around, and that won him many friends in Greenland.

Although Mikkel, in service of whale research, traveled to much of the world, it was still Greenland that became his “school” and the place where he felt at home.