Speaking truth to power – my week giving whales a voice
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting is where governments come together to make decisions about whaling and whale conservation. Our team was at this year’s convention to speak up for the whales. Well, that was an eventful experience. The conference of the International Whaling Commission (IWC, the body that regulates whale hunts) in Slovenia at the…
Read MoreThe whale trappers are back with their cruel experiment
Anyone walking past my window might have heard my groan of disbelief at the news that, against all logic – rather like a bad Netflix series that has somehow been commissioned for a second season – the ‘minke whale trappers’ are back with their nets to have another go this summer! Starting tomorrow and despite…
Read MoreIs this the beginning of the end for whaling off Iceland?
I’m feeling cautiously optimistic after Iceland’s Fisheries Minister Svandís Svavarsdóttir wrote that there is little justification for authorising any further whaling when the current permits expire in 2023. Stating unequivocally that ‘it must be shown that it is economically justifiable to renew fishing rights’, Svandís reminds readers that whaling has damaged Iceland’s reputation and negatively…
Read MoreUnderstanding whale and dolphin hunts in the Faroe Islands – why change is not easy
Most people in my home country of the Faroe Islands would like to see an end to the kind of dolphin hunt that sparked an outcry in September last year. Yet a poll has shown that a staggering 83% are in favour of continuing the traditional grindadráp, the slaughter of pilot whales. This is not…
Read MoreThe Faroes dolphin slaughter that sparked an outcry now brings hope
Since the slaughter of at least 1,423 Atlantic white-sided dolphins at Skálafjørður in my home country of the Faroe Islands, many people have raised their voices in outrage and concern – internationally, but also from within the Faroese community. I am Faroese and I feel the same way. That’s why I have joined WDC as…
Read MoreFrom managing commercial slaughter to saving the whale – the International Whaling Commission at 75
Governments come together under the auspices of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to make decisions that affect whales (and more recently dolphins and porpoises too) … and what happens to whales impacts the ocean and all of us. So as the IWC celebrates its 75th anniversary, let’s explore how this international body began by attempting…
Read MoreThe horror – reflecting on the massacre of 1,428 dolphins on the Faroe Islands
Like you and millions of people around the globe, I felt horrified by the news that 1,428 beautiful Atlantic white-sided dolphins had been slaughtered in a drive hunt on the shores of the Faroe Islands on 12th September 2021. This news and the staggering number of individuals massacred actually took some time to sink in.…
Read MoreHeartbreak and practical action – the horror of the Taiji dolphin hunts and one Japanese activist’s determination
Back in November, I shared my heartache at the drama unfolding in the waters off Taiji, Japan, where around 25 fishers were undertaking their annual slaughter and capture of small whales and dolphins. Thankfully, this hunt season has now ended but not without the loss of 687 souls – 547 destined for the dinner plate…
Read More200th anniversary of the sinking of the whaleship Essex
On 20 November 1820, a sperm whale turned on a whaling ship in the Pacific and sank her. Two hundred years on, in her guest blog, freelance journalist and long-time WDC supporter Stephanie Boxall reflects on what we can learn from the incident that inspired Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick. Two hundred years ago, an…
Read MoreThe whale who sank a ship and became a legend
On 20th November, 1820, far out in the Pacific Ocean, an enormous male sperm whale turned on a group of American whalers, ramming their ship, the Essex, and sinking it. News of the event shocked the whaling world, and would later inspire Herman Melville to write his great American novel, Moby Dick. No one can…
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