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Dolphin in Brazil helping with fishing illustration

Dolphins and fishermen working together

Kidzone - quick links Fun Facts Curious kids Blogs Fantastic fundraisers Gallery Splish and Splash...
Gray whale (eschrichtius robustus) Gray whale in Ojo de liebre lagoon Baja California.

Why we’re walking for whales to save the world

We've got enormous ambitions when it comes to fighting climate breakdown, and so two members...
Dolphins with keepers in the new Windsor Safari Park. Image: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo

Three decades on from UK’s last dolphin show, what needs to change?

The UK hasn't had captive whales and dolphins on display for 30 years, but it's...
Fishers' involvement is crucial. Image: WDC/JTF

When porpoises and people overlap

We're funding a project in Hong Kong that's working with fishing communities to help save...
Whale evolution cover

How did whales end up living in the ocean?

Kidzone - quick links Fun Facts Curious kids Blogs Fantastic fundraisers Gallery Splish and Splash...
Fishers chatting

Scottish fishers working with us to reduce risks to whales

Small changes to fishing gear could make a big difference to whales around Scotland, and...

Mindful conservation – why we need a new respect for nature

'We should look at whales and dolphins as the indigenous people of the seas -...
tins of whale meat

How Japan’s whaling industry is trying to convince people to eat whales

Japan's hunters kill hundreds of whales every year despite the fact that hardly anyone in...

Icelandic minke whaler who blamed vet strike for delaying his hunt is forced to retract

Yet more smoke and mirrors from Iceland’s whalers – this time, the turn of minke whaler, Gunnar Bergmann Jonsson, who has recently been spending a great deal of time whining and complaining on the radio and elsewhere in the news, that he can’t start his whaling until the current strike by veterinarians ends. In fact, he landed his first minke whale on 11th May and landed at least one more whale on 1st June.  As I write, his boat is off Grindavik to the southwest.

When confronted with the truth, Gunnar was forced to issue a retraction and admit that not only had his company already started killing whales, but the meat from at least one of the whales has already been disposed of under hygiene regulations, due to the vet strike. Whilst the meat from the second whale has been reportedly stored on ice, it is quite likely that it too, will be dumped as there seems no prospect of an early end to the strike.

The first Sunday of June is Fishermen’s Day in Iceland and this coincides with the annual two-day Festival of the Sea in Reykjavik this weekend. in recent years, the minke whalers have attended this festival to serve up barbecued minke whale meat to visitors – it remains to be seen whether Gunnar Bergmann will want to show his face there this year.

About Vanessa Williams-Grey

Policy manager - Stop Whaling and Responsible Whale Watching