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Hundreds of whales killed as Norwegian hunt season ends

Hundreds of whales killed as Norwegian hunt season ends

The end of the whaling season in Norway has been announced with 580 minke whales killed by 13 whaling vessels in just under six months. Norway’s minister of fisheries had set a quota (number that can be killed) of 917 whales for this season. Thankfully that number was not reached but this was still the…

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100 bottlenose dolphins hunted in Faroe Islands

Common bottlenose dolphin

This morning, (July 29th), 100 bottlenose dolphins were killed in Skálafjörður on the Faroe Islands. The hunt comes just weeks after the Faroe Islands government, despite both national and international outrage, allowed the killing of 500 dolphins a year. The dolphins were kept in the bay for several hours before the entire group was slaughtered. According…

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Fin whales return to old feeding grounds in Southern Ocean

Fin whale

An exciting discovery by researchers in the waters around Antarctica suggest that fin whales are starting to return to their former feeding grounds. During the first part of the 20th century, commercial whaling decimated whale numbers in the region as whalers reduced populations to a fraction of their original figure. By the time it become…

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Icelandic whalers kill first fin whales in four years

Majestic fin whales

As feared, whale hunters in Iceland have killed at least two fin whales, the first to be killed in four years. Hopes remain that the cruel practice will end in 2023 after the country’s Fisheries Minister, Svandís Svavarsdóttir cast doubt over its future a few weeks ago, saying that there is now little justification for authorizing…

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Japan Begins Commercial Whaling Season

Sei whale © Christopher Swann Japanese whalers have left port to begin this year’s annual hunt for whales and could kill up to 150 Bryde’s whales and 25 sei whales by the time the season finishes in mid-November. This year’s hunt is scheduled to begin on June 13th with the whaling ship Yushin Maru No.3 and its mother ship…

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Pregnant pilot whales die in Faroe Islands hunt

Long-finned pilot whale

Sixty three long-finned pilot whales were driven onto a beach and brutally killed over the weekend in the first hunt of the year in the Faroe Islands. The hunt took place at Sandágerði in the capital Tórshavn. Several of the whales were pregnant females. The infamous drive hunts take place every year with several hundred…

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High mercury levels found in Japanese dolphin meat

According to reports from Japan, police there are investigating the sale of whale and dolphin meat containing potentially illegal levels of dangerous toxins. Action for Dolphins group say tests on samples of meat sold in the coastal town of Taiji reveal mercury levels up to 25 times higher that safe limits set by the government.…

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Latest Taiji drive hunt season ends with many dolphins killed

Fishermen in the coastal town of Taiji, Japan have ended this season’s brutal dolphin hunt and, according to local sources, have killed or captured over 550 whales and dolphins. Species killed include Risso’s and striped dolphins as well as melon-headed whales and short-finned pilot whales. These drive hunts run from September to March or April…

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