Icelandic Minister of Fisheries just approved to continue the minke whale and fin whale hunting for the next 5 years!  The arguments are that these whales are doing well in Iceland and that there is enough of them to afford the hunting. Another argument is that the whales eat too much and therefore the whales are threatening the fish stocks. After  pressure against whaling from the whale watching companies, the general public and the recent whale sanctuary established in Faxafloi (making it more difficult to catch whales while having to go further out) this statement has been a real shock for many people. This decision was based in part on a new report on whaling which the  methodology and conclusions have both been questioned. As a point of interest, the main author of this report, Dr. Oddgeir Á. Ottesen, was an alternate MP for the Independence Party, which has always been decidedly pro-whaling. The Minister hails from this same party.

Probably the worst part is that this decision has been supported by some members of the Research Institute of Iceland, which conduct annual surveys to count the whales and set the population numbers. These studies have been also criticized. Whales are migratory species and the ocean has no boundaries. In reality considerable uncertainty remains regarding whale population estimations around Iceland.

What we know for sure is that:

Whales are extremely sensitive creatures that are killed every year in an inhumane way for non-sense purposes. According to the newspaper Viðskiptablaðið, in 2015 Iceland lost 72.5 million ISK due to whaling operations. Large amounts of fin whale meat are still in freezers in attempts to reach Japan markets and minke whale meat is consumed by blinded tourists that believe that this is tradition in Iceland, when it is NOT.

A fact is also that Icelandic waters are a very important feeding ground for whales; many visitors come to Iceland to see these magnificent creatures in the wild and they have way MORE VALUE ALIVE THAN DEAD.

The picture above shows a hybrid between the two biggest species on the planet (the blue whale and the fin whale) killed by accident by the whalers last season (2018). The fact that few hybrids are sighted in these waters is probably one of the most fascinating and unique phenomenas in nature.

Whales and other marine life are exposed to a plastic and noisy polluted ocean, and every day it is more common to see them dying on the beaches. They are struggling and they need to be protected NOW.

Whales have a huge, important role in marine ecosystems; they are BIOLOGICAL PUMPS and ECOSYSTEMS ENGINEERS, bringing back available nutrients from deep waters to  enrich surface waters. This makes it possible for new plankton blooms and therefore more fish. MORE WHALES MEANS MORE FISH STOCKS.

PLEASE TELL THE ICELANDIC WHALE WATCHING ASSOCIACION TO HELP US TO STOP THIS NON SENSE AND MAKE ICELAND TO UNDERSTAND THAT NOW MORE THAN EVER BEFORE WE NEED TO PROTECT OUR OCEANS AND WHALES.

For healthy oceans and so that the next generations can still hear the voices of the sea.