A traveller returning to the US from Iceland with WOW Airline was recently stopped at Baltimore Washington International Airport by customs agents who discovered whale bones in his luggage. The bones were discovered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents when the man’s luggage was taken for routine inspection. The Baltimore Sun reports that the man was released after questioning, but the bones were retained by the authorities. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will now determine the species of whale the bones belong to.
US Federal as well as international laws restrict the importation of endangered animals, dead or alive, or any products and artefacts made from endangered animals. Bones of endangered whales clearly fall under these bans. In case the bones are not from an endangered species they will be returned to the traveller.
However, this is not particularly likely, as the local news site visir.is reports. Gísli Víkingsson, whale specialist at the Icelandic Marine Research Institute all the whale species in Icelandic waters are currently listed as endangered species by the International Whaling Commission. The Marine Research Institute and Icelandic whalers have argued many of the whales in Icelandic waters are not endangered, including minke whale, and that their hunting in Icelandic waters is responsible and sustainable. Gísli adds that there is extensive paperwork involved in travelling with bones found in the wild, including beaches.
BWI passenger tells tale of a whale about bones in luggage. https://t.co/ueRBHNCPXH pic.twitter.com/2UPCBMpoMY
— The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) February 13, 2016
A traveller returning to the US from Iceland with WOW Airline was recently stopped at Baltimore Washington International Airport by customs agents who discovered whale bones in his luggage. The bones were discovered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents when the man’s luggage was taken for routine inspection. The Baltimore Sun reports that the man was released after questioning, but the bones were retained by the authorities. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will now determine the species of whale the bones belong to.
US Federal as well as international laws restrict the importation of endangered animals, dead or alive, or any products and artefacts made from endangered animals. Bones of endangered whales clearly fall under these bans. In case the bones are not from an endangered species they will be returned to the traveller.
However, this is not particularly likely, as the local news site visir.is reports. Gísli Víkingsson, whale specialist at the Icelandic Marine Research Institute all the whale species in Icelandic waters are currently listed as endangered species by the International Whaling Commission. The Marine Research Institute and Icelandic whalers have argued many of the whales in Icelandic waters are not endangered, including minke whale, and that their hunting in Icelandic waters is responsible and sustainable. Gísli adds that there is extensive paperwork involved in travelling with bones found in the wild, including beaches.
BWI passenger tells tale of a whale about bones in luggage. https://t.co/ueRBHNCPXH pic.twitter.com/2UPCBMpoMY
— The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) February 13, 2016
