Whale meat fetches record high at Japan auction
Sei whale meat is being sold at a record high in Japan according media reports there. Ironically, whilst delegates from around the world at COP27 discuss ways to tackle climate change, tail meat from one of our biggest ocean allies in the fight against climate breakdown (whales) is fetching 500,000 yen (about $3,600) per kilo…
Read MoreMoves to overturn whaling ban rejected
Last week, the 68th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC, the body that regulates whale hunting) took place in Portorož, Slovenia. WDC has sent experts to participate in this forum for more than 25 years. For decades, whaling and whale conservation interests have clashed at the IWC and this year, once again, a motion…
Read More148 more fin whales killed in waters around Iceland
The Icelandic fin whaling season has now ended with a final, grim tally of 148 whales slaughtered since June. These hunts were the first in Icelandic waters for four years when, in 2018, 146 fin whales were killed, including at least two rare blue whale/fin whale hybrids and a dozen pregnant females. Since 2006, the company responsible…
Read MoreHundreds of whales killed as Norwegian hunt season ends
The end of the whaling season in Norway has been announced with 580 minke whales killed by 13 hunting vessels in just under six months. Norway’s minister of fisheries had set a quota (number that can be killed) of 917 whales for this season. Thankfully that number was not reached but this was still the deadliest…
Read MoreDolphin slaughter in Japan resumes
The annual slaughter of various species of dolphin has begun in the waters around Taiji in Japan. These awful hunts, which are expected to run until March next year, involved the corralling of dolphins at sea by small boats and driving them into the confines of a cove, where they are slaughtered for meat or…
Read MoreIceland to monitor whale hunt cruelty
Following our call for an investigation into violations of the Icelandic Whaling and Animal Welfare Act by fin whale hunters in the country, fisheries minister Svandís Svavarsdóttir, has issued a regulation requiring her officials to begin onboard monitoring of the hunts with immediate effect, a move that could bring them to an end. Together with…
Read MoreFin whales return to old feeding grounds in Southern Ocean
An exciting discovery by researchers in the waters around Antarctica suggest that fin whales are starting to return to their former feeding grounds. During the first part of the 20th century, commercial whaling decimated whale numbers in the region as whalers reduced populations to a fraction of their original figure. By the time it become…
Read MoreIcelandic whalers kill first fin whales in four years
As feared, whale hunters in Iceland have slaughtered at least two fin whales, the first to be killed in four years. Hopes remain that the cruel practice will end in 2023 after the country’s Fisheries Minister, Svandís Svavarsdóttir cast doubt over its future a few weeks ago, saying that there is now little justification for authorizing…
Read MoreHigh mercury levels found in slaughtered Japanese dolphin meat
According to reports from Japan, police there are investigating the sale of whale and dolphin meat containing potentially illegal levels of dangerous toxins. Action for Dolphins group say tests on samples of meat sold in the coastal town of Taiji reveal mercury levels up to 25 times higher that safe limits set by the government.…
Read MoreLatest Taiji slaughter season ends with many dolphins killed
Fishermen in the coastal town of Taiji, Japan have ended this season’s brutal dolphin hunt and, according to local sources, have killed or captured over 550 whales and dolphins. Species killed include Risso’s and striped dolphins as well as melon-headed whales and short-finned pilot whales. These drive hunts run from September to March or April…
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