Hvalur HF has killed eleven pregnant fin whales this summer, the CEO and owner of Hvalur Hf, Kristján Loftsson, told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið. There is nothing unusual or illegal about killing pregnant fin whales, he argued. Avoiding killing pregnant whale cows is impossible, he claimed: That's just the way of the animal kingdom, we can't do much about it.
Hvalur hf has come under renewed criticism after marine conservation organization Hard to Port posted a photo of a whale fetus being dragged away from the carcass of a newly killed whale at the Hvalfjörður whaling station yesterday.
Read more: Outrage as photos showi Hvalur hf killed a pregnant fin whale
Kristján Loftsson told Morgunblaðið that pregnant females are sometimes killed when animals are hunted in the wild. The fact that some of the cows caught by the company are pregnant are a sign that things are as they should be, he argued: If we hunted whales for a whole summer, and caught no pregnant cows, there would be something very seriously wrong in the ocean.
Hvalur hf has killed 89 fin whales this summer. Icelandic law permits the killing of 160 fin whales before the end of the whaling season which began in June.
Impossible to avoid pregnant whales
It is impossible to identify the sex of a whale without a blood sample and closer study, making it impossible for whalers to avoid females, Edda Elísabet Magnúsdóttir, a marine biologist and whale expert told Morgunblaðið.
The hunting of cows who are nursing calves is illegal, and it is easy to spot these animals. Since fin whales become pregnant on average every other year, give birth around the new-year and nurse their calves for at least half a year afterwards it is very likely that sexually mature females caught by whalers are at some stage of their pregnancy, Edda Elísabet told Morgunblaðið.
Hvalur HF has killed eleven pregnant fin whales this summer, the CEO and owner of Hvalur Hf, Kristján Loftsson, told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið. There is nothing unusual or illegal about killing pregnant fin whales, he argued. Avoiding killing pregnant whale cows is impossible, he claimed: That's just the way of the animal kingdom, we can't do much about it.
Hvalur hf has come under renewed criticism after marine conservation organization Hard to Port posted a photo of a whale fetus being dragged away from the carcass of a newly killed whale at the Hvalfjörður whaling station yesterday.
Read more: Outrage as photos showi Hvalur hf killed a pregnant fin whale
Kristján Loftsson told Morgunblaðið that pregnant females are sometimes killed when animals are hunted in the wild. The fact that some of the cows caught by the company are pregnant are a sign that things are as they should be, he argued: If we hunted whales for a whole summer, and caught no pregnant cows, there would be something very seriously wrong in the ocean.
Hvalur hf has killed 89 fin whales this summer. Icelandic law permits the killing of 160 fin whales before the end of the whaling season which began in June.
Impossible to avoid pregnant whales
It is impossible to identify the sex of a whale without a blood sample and closer study, making it impossible for whalers to avoid females, Edda Elísabet Magnúsdóttir, a marine biologist and whale expert told Morgunblaðið.
The hunting of cows who are nursing calves is illegal, and it is easy to spot these animals. Since fin whales become pregnant on average every other year, give birth around the new-year and nurse their calves for at least half a year afterwards it is very likely that sexually mature females caught by whalers are at some stage of their pregnancy, Edda Elísabet told Morgunblaðið.
