Minke whale dies before cruel hearing experiments begin

A cruel and pointless experiment to test the hearing of live minke whales in Norway has claimed the life of a whale even before it has got underway.

The minke died after becoming trapped in nets being made ready for the experiments. The nets were damaged by a storm in the Lofoten area of northern Norway, and work on the project has now been halted.

The controversial project involves a mile-wide net being set up to herd migrating juvenile minke whales into an enclosure, before they are cornered inside a small, modified aquaculture cage.  Once the whales are trapped, the researchers will try to measure their brain waves to determine how they might react to naval sonar and noise from oil and gas exploration. 

50 of the world's leading whale and dolphin scientists have previously signed a letter from WDC urging the Norwegian government to stop the dangerous experiments going ahead.

Approval for the research was made by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet), with the whales to be targeted off Vestvågøy.

This will be the third attempt to capture whales to then experiment on them. The project, which also involves the Norwegian Armed Forces Research Institute and the US Navy, raises concerns about the potential impacts on other species, including marine mammals and seabirds that could become entangled in the various nets used to cordon off the research area.

‘We have warned that these cruel and pointless experiments would lead to whales being killed and it is sadly ironic that this poor minke has died even before the experiments have got underway’, says WDC’s Danny Groves.

The whole idea is bizarre. Little is known about sedating or stunning wild whales and dolphins, and it is therefore rarely attempted. No whales should have to face being bundled into a cage and have electrodes implanted under his or her skin, These experiments should be halted permanently.’

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