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Pilot whale

How we need to support Faroese communities to end the whale and dolphin hunts

Hayley Flanagan Hayley is WDC's engagement officer, specializing in creating brilliant content for our website...
Hope the inflatable whale

Meet a whale called Hope

Kidzone - quick links Fun Facts Curious kids Blogs Fantastic fundraisers Gallery Splish and Splash...
Harbour porpoise. Image: Charlie Phillips/WDC

Speaking up for the little guys – WDC in action

Whales and dolphins face so many dangers. These intelligent beings are crucial for the wellbeing...
Humpback whale fluke in Alaska.

An unforgettable first encounter – observing the whales we work to protect

I have kept a dark secret since joining WDC back in June 2021. Despite my...

Iceland: observations of a nation unable to decide where it stands on whales

WDC volunteer, John Faulkes, recently visited Iceland. Below, he recounts his experiences and observations of a nation unable to decide where it stands on whales.

Day 1: I woke up to an amazing sight: everything was so white and wonderful, it had been snowing!

In the afternoon, I went whale watching with Elding. Once out at sea, it started snowing – I was very excited to be whale watching in the snow. It was a great experience but further out to sea, the snow stopped and we saw white-beaked dolphins, common dolphins and 2 humpback whales.

There were over 100 people on the boat which made it difficult to get any photos, however I did get to chat to lots of people. I had my WDC jacket on and was talking to people about WDC and whales and dolphins and the whaling issue in Iceland. I was quite surprised when a crew member called me over and said the Captain had seen my WDC jacket and wanted to meet me. He was very nice and we had a great chat on way back.  In the evening, we went to see the northern lights, the most amazing sight. I have never seen so many bright green colours!

Day 2: I went to the town centre. The first shop I went into was like an off licence and I was shocked when I saw what they were selling: whale jerky. I couldn’t believe my eyes and then just behind me, there was packaged smoked whale meat. I also looked at restaurant menus and found quite a few that were selling whale meat.

Day 3. I found more restaurants with whales on the menu; however I saw a tourist shop selling a T-shirt with a picture of a whale tail saying ‘kill em all’ it was even more shocking than finding whale meat and it wasn’t just the one shop, it was also in others.    

However I did see many restaurants with ‘whale friendly’ stickers on the windows and even more not selling whale meat, which was great to see. I would highly recommend a visit to Iceland – I had an amazing time and really enjoyed myself.

About Vanessa Williams-Grey

Policy manager - Stop Whaling and Responsible Whale Watching