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Vaquita. Photo Thomas Jefferson

Scientific Committee gives first ever official species extinction warning

Photo: Thomas Jefferson We have welcomed the urgent call by experts to protect the vaquita...
blue whale

Whale fossil from Peru may have been heavier than blue whale

Scientists examining the bones of a 39 million-year-old ancient whale have concluded that it may...
Humpback whale © Christopher Swann

Humpback whales breach in synchronisation

Humpback whales are renowned for their incredible acrobatic displays, but a family in the USA...
Long-finned pilot whale

Unusual activity witnessed before pilot whale stranding

Just days after a pod of long-finned pilot whales stranded on an island in the...
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  • All policy news
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Prevent deaths in nets
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Port River dolphins

New report reveals 100,000 dolphins and small whales hunted every year

When you hear the words ‘dolphin hunts’ it’s likely that you think of Japan or...

Minke whale hunts stop in Iceland

Iceland’s commercial hunt of minke whales has ended for this year. The common minke whale is the...

Japan set to resume commercial whaling

Reports from Japan suggest that the government they will formally propose plans to resume commercial...

End the whale hunts! Icelandic fin whaler isolated as public mood shifts

Here’s a sight I hoped never again to witness. A boat being scrubbed and repainted...

Australian Government to block Japanese whaling proposal

Japanese Government officials have reportedly confirmed that they will propose the resumption of commercial whaling...

Did Icelandic whalers really kill a blue whale?

*Warning - this blog contains an image that you may find upsetting* They say a...

Icelandic whalers breach international law and kill iconic, protected whale by mistake

Icelandic whalers out hunting fin whales for the first time in three years appear to...

Pregnant whales once again a target for Japanese whalers

Figures from Japan's whaling expedition to Antarctica during the 2017/18 austral summer have revealed that...

Doubts remain after Icelandic Marine Institute claims slaughtered whale was a hybrid not a blue

Experts remain sceptical of initial test results issued by the Icelandic Marine Institute, which indicate...

Icelandic fin whale hunting to resume

Iceland’s only fin whaling company, Hvalur hf,  announced today that it will resume fin whaling...

Norway increases whaling quota despite declining demand

Norway's government has announced an increase in the number of minke whales that can be...

Norway's whaling season begins

April 1st saw the start of the whaling season in Norway. Despite a widely-accepted international moratorium...

UK Environment Secretary told to call for end to whale slaughter during visit to Faroes and Iceland

It has emerged that UK Government Environment Secretary, Michael Gove will visit countries including the Faroes and Iceland this week to discuss potential fisheries deals, causing WDC and others groups to call for him to use the visits to pressure both nations to end their annual slaughter of whales.

The UK Government is keen to strike deals over fishing with the Faroes, Iceland and Norway following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. But, despite an international ban on commercial whale hunting, Iceland continues to hunt minke and endangered fin whales.  

Every year in the Faroe Islands, a territory of Denmark, hundreds of pilot whales and other species including bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic white-sided dolphins and northern bottlenose whales, are also hunted for their meat. In the past few weeks alone, around 900 pilot whales have been slaughtered.

The techniques used in these Faroese drive hunts are intensely stressful and cruel. Entire family groups are rounded up out at sea by small motor boats and driven to the shore. Typically, once they are stranded in shallow water, blunt-ended metal hooks are inserted into their blowholes and used to drag the whales up the beach, where they are killed with a knife cut to their major blood vessels.

The Faroes government has previously commented on how important Britain is as a market for Faroese seafood exports and that a new trade agreement with the UK is a priority.

In his first speech as the new Environment Secretary last week, Mr Gove said I am an environmentalist first because I care about the fate of fellow animals.’  WDC is urging Mr Gove to stick to these principles, and use his visits to Iceland and the Faroes to raise the issue of whaling and drive hunts during discussions, and insist that these cruel practices come to a swift end. These magnificent, migratory marine creatures are not the property of Iceland, or the Faroes and their survival is important for the health of the oceans, our own future and that of the planet as a whole.

Help WDC stop whaling.