The marine conservationist organization Hard to Port shared a photograph on social media yesterday, showing employees of Hvalur hf dragging a dead whale fetus from the carcass of a dead fin whale which had just recently been brought to shore. Other conservationist organizations, including Sea Shepherd, quickly shared the photo which sparked renewed outrage over the whaling of Hvalur hf.
Hvalur hf. was at the center of international outrage earlier this summer when photographs showed that its whalers had caught a rare fin-blue whale hybrid.
Read more: DNA study confirms Icelandic whalers didn't kill a protected blue whale
Fin-blue whale hybrids are nor specifically protected by Icelandic law, and neither are pregnant fin whale cows. A marine biologist with the Icelandic Marine and Freshwater Research Institute told the local newspaper Fréttablaðið that the killing of pregnant fin whales was not illegal:
Fin whales become pregnant every other year. The calves are born around new-years, and the cows are weaning the calves by mid-year, around the summer. It is illegal to kill cows who are still nursing or weaning a calf, which means that if the whalers catch sexually mature cows, that those animals are pregnant.
The fin whale hunt, which is governed by a law which will expire at the end of this year, permits Hvalur hf to kill up to 160 fin whales during the season which began in June. The law stipulates that it is illegal to kill cows nursing calves. The meat from the whaling is sold to Japan.
Read more: Support for whaling continues to drop: Only 34% of Icelanders now in support
Support for whaling has been dropping rapidly in Iceland in recent years. Currently just about a third of the population supports whaling while a majority is in opposition. The minister of the environment and the prime minister of Iceland have both said they would like to see the law permitting whaling to be revised after it expires at the end of the year.
The marine conservationist organization Hard to Port shared a photograph on social media yesterday, showing employees of Hvalur hf dragging a dead whale fetus from the carcass of a dead fin whale which had just recently been brought to shore. Other conservationist organizations, including Sea Shepherd, quickly shared the photo which sparked renewed outrage over the whaling of Hvalur hf.
Hvalur hf. was at the center of international outrage earlier this summer when photographs showed that its whalers had caught a rare fin-blue whale hybrid.
Read more: DNA study confirms Icelandic whalers didn't kill a protected blue whale
Fin-blue whale hybrids are nor specifically protected by Icelandic law, and neither are pregnant fin whale cows. A marine biologist with the Icelandic Marine and Freshwater Research Institute told the local newspaper Fréttablaðið that the killing of pregnant fin whales was not illegal:
Fin whales become pregnant every other year. The calves are born around new-years, and the cows are weaning the calves by mid-year, around the summer. It is illegal to kill cows who are still nursing or weaning a calf, which means that if the whalers catch sexually mature cows, that those animals are pregnant.
The fin whale hunt, which is governed by a law which will expire at the end of this year, permits Hvalur hf to kill up to 160 fin whales during the season which began in June. The law stipulates that it is illegal to kill cows nursing calves. The meat from the whaling is sold to Japan.
Read more: Support for whaling continues to drop: Only 34% of Icelanders now in support
Support for whaling has been dropping rapidly in Iceland in recent years. Currently just about a third of the population supports whaling while a majority is in opposition. The minister of the environment and the prime minister of Iceland have both said they would like to see the law permitting whaling to be revised after it expires at the end of the year.
