Posts Tagged ‘Norway’
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…
Read MoreNorway’s government allows hunters to kill over 1200 whales this year
Norway has announced that its whalers can once again kill up to 1,278 whales this year (the same quota number as 2020). Norway’s government allows the minke whale hunts to go ahead under an ‘objection’ to the global ban on commercial whaling, and whalers continue to carry out this slaughter despite falling demand for whale…
Read MoreNo self-isolation for Norwegian whalers
While the world deals with the global issues around a pandemic, it seems that whalers in Norway will not be grounded by the coronavirus. The Norwegian whaling season starts on Wednesday, April 1st with a number of boats set to kill up to 1,278 minke whales. Last year, Norwegian whalers killed 429 minke whales, fewer than in 2018…
Read MoreStunning new whale watching venue to be built in Norway
New plans to open a land-based whale watching attraction in Norway will promote the amazing opportunities to see whales in Norway. As a bonus, this could also help change the opinions of some Norwegians who still support whaling in the region. The stunning looking building will sit right on the shore around 300km (~185…
Read MoreNorway’s whaling future uncertain after survey shows little domestic appetite for whale meat
The future of Norway’s whaling industry appears to be in serious doubt as it struggles to deal with low catch numbers, falling prices for whale meat and declining interest in its products on the domestic market. The head of Norway’s Whalers’ Association, Truls Soløy, described the 2019 whaling season as “particularly disappointing” after a total…
Read MoreNo change in Norway as number of whales to be killed remains high
Norway’s Minister of Fisheries has announced today that the country has set itself the same number of whales that it will seek to kill in 2019 as were slaughtered in 2018. The quota level will be 1278 minke whales, a very high figure given the lack of demand for the meat in Norway. Some of…
Read MoreSOS alert for whales off Norway!
I have to admit to bitter disappointment when I arrived in Tromsø, northern Norway, a few weeks ago, hoping to see orcas, only to find that I had missed them by a few days. Since 2013, the orcas have been seen really close to shore in the waters around Tromsø and neighbouring Kvaløya islands, towering…
Read MoreNorway increases whaling quota despite declining demand
Norway’s government has announced an increase in the number of minke whales that can be hunted this year from 999 to 1278. This is 28% more than in 2017 even though recent years have seen a decline in the number of whales being killed and fewer whaling vessels heading out to sea. Falling consumer demand…
Read MoreWhales could help save Arctic Seed Vault
Recently, Norway announced that the entrance to the Global Seed Vault in the Arctic was flooded after very high temperatures caused the permafrost to melt. The vault, a storage facility deep inside a mountain on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, is designed to preserve the world’s crops from future disasters. The store holds seeds from c.5,000 crop…
Read MoreNorwegian whalers kill first minkes of the season
The Norwegian press is reporting that 5 minkes have been killed this week by whalers aboard the Rowenta 2, off the Lofoten Islands. The Rowenta 2 is currently off Vardø, in the extreme northeast of Norway. The whaling season opened this month with a quota of 999 whales, up from 880. A recent documentary aired…
Read More