Tomorrow, August 31st, Iceland's temporary ban on whaling will expire.

You are one of 500,000 people who have signed the petition started by the organization Hvalavinir, urging the Icelandic government to extend the ban. 

“Not only are the brutal killings unacceptable for these highly intelligent and magnificent animals, they play an important role to limit the effect of climate change and a very important role in the food chain of the oceans,” writes the organization. “Whales dive deep down to the bottom of the ocean and then come up and leave their feces in the surface water of the ocean. 

“Their feces contain the main nutrition for plankton, and plankton is the foundation of the oceans food-and life chain. So really, the more whales, the more fish, and the more CO2 gets taken out of our atmosphere.”

The organization points out that we are now in a climate emergency, and must do everything we can to protect rapidly disappearing animal populations. 

To continue pressuring the Icelandic government to extend the ban, you can also write to Svandis Svavarsdotti Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, at svandis.svavarsdottir@althingi.is. Thank her for the temporary pause on whaling, and urge her to ban the practice permanently.