Iceland breaks ban on commercial whaling :(

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 12:18pm

Iceland breaks ban on commercial whaling

Mon Oct 23, 6:57 AM ET



Iceland broke a global moratorium on commercial whaling, killing an endangered fin whale for the first time since the 1980s, local media reported Sunday.

Iceland's RUV television showed footage of a large fin whale being towed by a whaling boat. It said the whale was harpooned in the north Atlantic about 200 miles west of Iceland.

Iceland announced last week that it would resume commercial whaling, ignoring a worldwide moratorium that came into effect in 1986.

Fisheries Minister Einar Kristinn Gudfinnsson said his ministry would issue licenses to kill nine fin whales and 30 of the more numerous minke whales in the year ending Aug. 31, 2007.

The announcement was condemned by conservation groups and many governments around the world, but praised by pro-whaling nations Norway and Japan.

Joth Singh of the International Fund for Animal Welfare condemned the hunt as "cruel and unnecessary."

Icelanders have been hunting whales since the days of the Vikings, but stopped commercial whaling in 1985 and scientific whaling in 1989 under the international moratorium on commercial hunts. It resumed scientific whaling in 2003.

Japan, Iceland, Norway and other pro-whaling nations have been pushing the International Whaling Commission to revoke the 1986 ban on commercial hunts amid controversy over exactly how many whales are left in the world's oceans.

At an IWC meeting in June, those nations passed a symbolic resolution to support ending the moratorium. Officially ending the ban would require a 75 percent majority among commission members.

Fin whales are on the International Conservation Union's "red list" of endangered species, but Iceland says they are plentiful in the country's coastal waters.

Iceland's fisheries ministry said this week that there are more than 43,000 minke whales and 25,000 fin whales in Icelandic coastal waters.

It said limited commercial hunting was "consistent with the principle of sustainable development."

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 3:12pm

'Fin whales are on the International Conservation Union's "red list" of endangered species, but Iceland says they are plentiful in the country's coastal waters.'

Oh, well, I guess if they've got plenty, that makes it OK then.

This is disgusting! How is this even allowed?

[SweMozArt]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 3:15pm

So finally Broadway singers will be able to do their wailing in Iceland, and get paid for it.
Updated On: 10/23/06 at 03:15 PM

[Calvin]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 3:17pm

I was just there last month. There are places where they still serve whale in restaurants (not that I ate any).

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 3:58pm

In Japan, they kill so many whales; the meat is served in school cafeterias. The kids hate it. Whales are really almost gone from our planet. Pollution and disease will probably kill them off in the next hundred years. There used to be whales right off the coast here in Long Island and they would even come into the sound. It’s since been over-fished and they no longer venture inland.

If you ever have the chance, go on whale watching cruise. I went on a 3-day Humpback excursion and I could hear them while I slept on the boat. I took my boyfriend, it was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Humpback whales are indescribable in their beauty.

[Calvin]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:02pm

I did whale-watching off Provincetown the summer before last, and it was wonderful. We saw one type of extremely rare whale -- I can't remember what it was called, but there are very few of them left.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:05pm

maybe Minke whale? I really wanna see a blue whale...

[Calvin]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:09pm

I believe it was a right whale.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:11pm

"I went on a 3-day Humpback excursion"

TMI!

Updated On: 10/23/06 at 04:11 PM

[timote316]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:13pm

I've gone on a few whale watching trips out of Cape Cod as well. One trip, we were lucky enough to see a Humpback breaching out of the water and later saw a right whale. It was breathtaking.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:16pm

Right! Yes, those are rare; they called them Right whale because it was the right whale to kill. The large amount of blubber made it float to the surface and was easily hunted.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:18pm

Here is a cool line art pic of a Blue Whale. Look how large it is. If any of you want information about trips off of Mantauk in the summer of '07 let me know. It is super cheap and an amazing time.

[Calvin]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:19pm

Do you remember that old Disney cartoon about the opera-singing whale? And then that jackass killed it? That used to depress the hell out of me.

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:22pm

I remember! What a buzzkill.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:22pm

I never saw it, but I just saw the Little Mermaid DVD and there is a beautiful humpback whale in the beginning. I did not remember that from 1990 when I saw it. I like the Fantasia 2000 sequence and Mr. Crabs daughter LOL.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:24pm

I went whale watching when I was a kid. It was also off Cape Cod. It wasn't very exciting for a 10-year-old, I must say. I was expecting a SeaWorld show.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:31pm

Well it's hit or miss on those day trips, but if you go on a scientific expedition they find them. It's amazing because I saw the same whales I saw off of Mantauk in Dominican Republic years later.

[Calvin]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:32pm

A lot of them offer money back guarantees (in the form of vouchers for another trip, so it might not do everybody good) that you will see a whale.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:37pm

We saw some spouting in the distance, but, like I said, for a kid who was anticipating an aquarium performance from the whales, it was really a letdown.

Hmm, maybe I should give it another try as an adult...

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 4:44pm

"There used to be whales right off the coast here in Long Island and they would even come into the sound. It’s since been over-fished and they no longer venture inland."

I've summered on eastern long island many times and have seen plenty of whales. Even saw a blue whale one summer while whale watching.

My family home on the cape is full of whales. We go whale watching at least 2 or 3 times a season. It's wonderful.