Sea Shepherd Crew Exposes the Commercial Whaling of Endangered Fin Whales in Iceland
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
29 June 2018
Sea Shepherd UK crew in Iceland have documented the slaughter of seven endangered fin whales by the commercial whaling company, Hvalur hf.
Sea Shepherd UK crew have been operating in Iceland since mid-June watching the activities of the notorious whaling company ‘Hvalur hf’ owned by the wealthy fishing magnate and second-generation whaler Kristján Loftsson. The whaling company owns a large whaling station on the North side of Hvalfjörður and two old Norwegian built whaling ships, Hvalur 8 (built in 1948) and Hvalur 9 (built in 1952) which exclusively hunt endangered Fin whales, the second largest animal on the planet after the Blue whale.
The 2018 quota given to Hvalur hf by the Icelandic government is for a staggering 161 Fin whales, plus an additional 30 Fin whales carried over from the unused quota from 2017 which can be killed during a 100-day season from the 10thJune.
The last time Loftsson’s company hunted Fin whales was in 2015 when his two ships killed 155 whales. However, Loftsson and his company had subsequent issues both when exporting the meat and then within in Japan (the primary market for Icelandic Fin whale meat and products) with Japanese food standards test results showing excessive contaminants which prevented the sale of the whale products from the 2015 hunts. This effectively closed the door on further Icelandic Fin whale imports and his two ships have sat moored in Old Reykjavik harbour from September 2015 until the 19thJune this year when Hvalur 8 left Reykjavik, quickly took on equipment at the whaling station in Hvalfjörður (and was photographed by our crew) before venturing to sea on the first hunt of 2018.
Hvalur 8 has so far returned with seven endangered Fin whales from five voyages, each taking around 36 hours to whaling grounds within Iceland’s economic exclusion zone around 150 nautical miles from the whaling station. Since June 19th Sea Shepherd crew have maintained a watch of the approach from the into Hvalfjörður and have therefore been in place to document (with video, photos and when possible livestreaming to social media) every return of Hvalur 8 and the butchering of the whales at Hvalur hf’s whaling station.
“The whaling ship Hvalur 9 completed repairs on the 27th June and was photographed heading out from Reykjavik harbour in the morning of the 29th June,” said Robert Read, COO at Sea Shepherd UK. “It will soon be whaling alongside its sister ship Hvalur 8, effectively doubling the work for our crew who have travelled to Iceland from four countries to expose this archaic commercial hunting of endangered whales.”
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Hi-res images here, credit Sea Shepherd (video footage available on request): https://minerva.seashepherdglobal.org/share.cgi?ssid=0LsH4sX
Follow our crew’s campaign updates, photos and livestreams on our Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/seashepherduk
If you can, please help Sea Shepherd UK keep our crew in Iceland by making a donation at: justgiving.com/seashepherduk - or at: paypal.me/seashepherduk
Read Captain Paul Watson’s commentary from the 23rdJune 2018 entitled ‘An Iceland without whaling is on the Horizon’ on our website at: https://www.seashepherd.org.uk/news-and-commentary/commentary/an-iceland-without-whaling-is-on-the-horizon.html
*For press/media enquiries please contact both:
Robert Read
COO at Sea Shepherd UK
Email: media@seashepherduk.org
Tel: +354 623 4748 or +44 300 111 050
Heather Stimmler
Media Director at Sea Shepherd Global
Email: media@seashepherdglobal.org
Tel: +339 7719 7742
Sea Shepherd Global
Sea Shepherd is an international non-profit marine conservation movement using innovative tactics and direct action to defend, conserve and protect the worlds oceans and marine wildlife. Founded by Paul Watson in 1977, today Sea Shepherd is a worldwide movement with independent national and regional entities in over 20 countries, united by a common mission and a fleet of eleven ships on campaigns around the world. Sea Shepherd investigates and documents violations of international and national conservation law, and enforces conservation measures where legal authority exists. For more information, visit: http://www.seashepherdglobal.org/
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