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Amazon river dolphins leaping

Endangered river dolphins die in Amazon drought

Over 100 endangered pink river dolphins have died in an area of the Amazon over...
Fin whale

Short and cruel hunt season ends in Iceland

The shortened Icelandic fin whale hunts season has finished with a final total of 23...
Bottlenose dolphins breaching

Landmark report reveals UK wildlife’s devastating decline

With whales and dolphins already facing many threats, a landmark report released this week reveals...
Dolphins with oil rig

Go ahead for new UK oil and gas exploration threatens whales and dolphins

Permission has been granted for the development of the UK's biggest untapped oilfield off Shetland,...

Icelandic fin whaler plans to ship whale meat to Japan via Angola

In a move that is both highly controversial and provocative, Iceland’s sole fin whaler, Kristjan Loftsson, is preparing to ship 1,700 tonnes of fin whale meat to Japan via the port of Luanda in Angola, off the southwest coast of Africa.

Icelandic media report that his whaling company, Hvalur hf, loaded the meat onto  the Winter Bay  around a fortnight ago, but the boat remains in harbour at Hafnarfjordur, south of Reykjavik, allegedly due to mechanical problems. This time last year, Loftsson shipped 2,000 tonnes of fin whale meat to Japan aboard the Alma, taking a circuitous route around the Cape of Good Hope.

Icelandic whalers hunt both fin and minke whales under a disputed ‘reservation’ to the International Whaling Commission’s ban on commercial whaling.  This year’s minke whaling season has already started, with at least 2 whales killed, and the fin whaling season opens in June. Last year, 137 endangered fin whales and 24 minke whales were killed.

Whale watching is many times more profitable than whaling in Iceland. Please support our campaign to see Iceland famous as a Whale Nation, not a whaling nation!

About Vanessa Williams-Grey

Policy manager - Stop Whaling and Responsible Whale Watching