Pressure mounts in Iceland as latest survey shows majority of local people want whale hunting to end

For the first time, those opposed to whaling in Iceland are in the majority according to a new public opinion poll in the country.

The survey, conducted by the Maskina institute reveals 51 percent of Icelanders are now against the hunting, up from 42 percent four years ago.

The results were published shortly before another anti-whaling demonstration took place in Reykjavik at the weekend, which WDC attended, as pressure grows on authorities in Iceland to stop whaling immediately.

Together with our conservation partner in Iceland, Hard To Port, we recently alerted government officials to disturbing evidence of grenade-tipped harpoons failing to explode when fired into fin whales during the last hunt season. Iceland’s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, then issued a regulation requiring her officials to begin onboard vessel monitoring, and a new welfare report was commissioned. That report has since been released and reveals shocking footage and statistics exposing huge amounts of cruelty associated with the hunts – including some whales taking up to two hours to die after being shot.

The horrific findings from the Icelandic food and veterinary authority and our work to expose this cruelty now give real hope to whale hunting in Iceland being stopped immediately.

We are continuing our work to keep the pressure on the Icelandic government and will update on that work very soon.

Fin whales are listed as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) but 148 were killed in the Icelandic hunts last year. With little demand for the meat and growing scientific evidence of the important role whales play in helping to fight climate breakdown, it makes no sense to continue with this cruel slaughter.

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