Short and cruel hunt season ends in Iceland
The shortened Icelandic fin whale hunts season has finished with a final total of 23 whales killed, 1 unborn calf killed and 1 whale lost. This year the hunting season, which normally starts in June, began on the 1st of September due to the suspension of hunting permits, by Iceland’s Ministry of Food, Agriculture and…
Read MoreWhaling boat kept in port after more hunt cruelty exposed
The shortened hunting season began on September 1 One of the whaling boats involved in the latest hunts in Iceland has been kept in port after yet more controversy surrounding welfare breaches. Vessels were allowed to go out hunting just a few days ago after the government in Iceland lifted its own suspension of the…
Read MoreWhalers kill just days after Iceland’s hunt suspension is lifted
Whalers in Iceland have claimed their first victims since the lifting (just a few days ago) of a suspension of the hunts because they broke animal welfare laws. Incredibly, from pictures taken of the first kills, it seems that fin whales are once again being killed using more than a single shot. Images show two…
Read MoreIcelandic government lifts suspension on cruel hunts
The Icelandic government is to allow fin whales to be hunted again after lifting a suspension introdcued this summer because the slaughter was ruled unlawful on welfare grounds. In an announcement today, Svandís Svavarsdóttir (minister) says that whaling will be allowed again under certain regulations. She says that supervision will be increased significantly. The regulation…
Read MorePermit dispute delays start of hunt season in Iceland
Hvalur 8 arrives at whaling station This year’s whale hunt season in Iceland could be delayed by several weeks after a permit required by the company behind the hunts to kill hundreds of whales ran out, and a new permit has yet to be issued by government officials. This may mark the end of whaling…
Read MoreNorway ups whale kill numbers and removes whale welfare protections
The whaling season in Norway has begun on the back of disturbing announcements from the country’s government stating the number of whales that can be killed (quota) will increase, while measures in place to protect whale welfare will be removed. The number of whales that the government will allow whalers to kill will go up…
Read MoreAutomated cruelty – vending machines in Japan now dispense dead whale
In an effort to prop up the cruel and declining whaling industry in Japan, one company is desperately attempting to increased consumption of whale meat by selling it via vending machines. Kyodo Senpaku Co., a Tokyo-based major whaling operator, is opening four unmanned Kujira (whale) vending machine stores selling whale meat and processed whale meat…
Read MoreWhale meat fetches record high at Japan auction
Sei whale meat is being sold at a record high in Japan according media reports there. Ironically, while delegates from around the world at COP27 discuss ways to tackle climate change, tail meat from a sei whale, one of our biggest ocean allies in the fight against climate breakdown, is fetching 500,000 yen (about $3,600)…
Read MoreMoves to overturn whaling ban rejected
Last week, the 68th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC, the body that regulates whale hunting) took place in Portorož, Slovenia. WDC has sent experts to participate in this forum for more than 25 years. For decades, whaling and whale conservation interests have clashed at the IWC and this year, once again, a motion…
Read More200 pilot whales killed in latest Faroese slaughter
More than 200 pilot whales have been slaughtered in Sandagerði (Torshavn) in the Faroe Islands. The long-finned pilot whales were driven onto the ‘whaling beach’ and brutally killed. The hunt, is just one of many that take place every year on the Islands, where pilot whales, as well as other whale and dolphin species are…
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