Norwegian whalers kill 660 minke whales
The Norwegian whaling season has ended and, according to reports within the country, 660 minke whales have been killed between April and the end of September.
Poor weather conditions played a part in limiting the slaughter, which was down from 736 whales killed last year.
Despite declining sales of whale meat within the country, Norway is continuing attempts to create a bigger market for the meat. Norway hunts minke whales under ‘objection’ to the international ban on commercial whaling. It sets its own quota (number of whales it will kill each year) and also sells meat to Japan. However, some of that meat was recently dumped by Japanese officials after routine tests revealed that it contained up to twice the allowed level of potentially dangerous pesticides.