Hunted Whales Suffer Slow and Painful Deaths, Government Study Reveals
New report into the Icelandic whaling industry confirms that over 40 percent of whales suffered slow and painful deaths after being harpooned.
An Icelandic whaling ship. Credit: IFAW
Iceland’s controversial whaling industry has been branded “inhumane” and “unnecessary” by animal welfare campaigners after a new government report reveals the scale of suffering that whales endure during the hunting process.
Work on the unprecedented study into the Icelandic whaling industry began last year after the government implemented surveillance cameras onboard ships belonging to Hvalur hf, the country’s last commercial whaling company.
Findings from the report, written by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST), have now been released and highlight the horrors of the whaling industry, revealing how over 40 percent of whales killed during Iceland’s most recent whaling season suffered slow and painful deaths.
Experts analyzed footage taken during the 2022 Icelandic fin whaling season, and focused on the ‘time to death’ - the time it takes for a whale to die after being harpooned.
Credit: IFAW
Footage captured the hunting of 58 slaughtered fin whales, and showed almost every other whale did not die instantaneously.
The median ‘time to die’ for harpooned whales was found to be 11.5 minutes, and almost a quarter of whales had to be harpooned a second time. In one particularly startling case, a whale struggled for two hours before eventually being considered dead.
During the hunt, a whale is chased by whalers until a grenade-tipped harpoon can be fired from the whaling vessel. The harpoon should penetrate about a metre into the whale, where it should explode and release spring-loaded claws into the flesh. The explosion is intended to create enough energy to kill or knock out the whale. However, this is dependent on where on the whale’s body the harpoon hits, and so the whale may not be killed immediately. In addition, some harpoons do not explode.
“This alarming report underscores the need for a discussion in Iceland about the values we want to be known for”, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, Iceland’s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, told the Guardian. “This alarming report underscores the need for a discussion in Iceland about the values we want to be known for. I believe that industries incapable of guaranteeing animal welfare should be considered part of our past rather than our future. This report, along with the expert council on animal welfare’s findings, will serve as essential background material for making decisions about the future of whaling post 2023.”
Whaling in Iceland
More than 1,900 fin and minke whales have been killed in Iceland since the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling came into effect in 1986.
During the hunting process, a whale is chased by whalers until a grenade-tipped harpoon can be fired from the whaling vessel. The harpoon should penetrate about a metre into the whale, where it should explode and release spring-loaded claws into the flesh. The explosion is intended to create enough energy to kill or knock out the whale. However, this is dependent on where on the whale’s body the harpoon hits, and so the whale may not be killed immediately. In addition, some harpoons do not explode.
Credit: IFAW
Now, the government’s latest findings have confirmed that this process is often resulting in prolonged suffering for whales, prompting renewed calls for a complete ban on whaling in the country.
“Whatever their views on whaling, both Icelanders and the international community will be horrified by these findings”, said Patrick Ramage, Senior Director at IFAW. “No animal - however it is killed - should suffer for such a long time. Whales are sentient, intelligent and complex creatures that suffer both physically and psychologically during this traumatic massacre. This new evidence underscores how outdated this practice is. It has to end immediately - no one in Iceland is dependent on this meat.”
The whalers of Hvalur hf have killed 993 fin whales since 2009. The whale meat is exported, primarily for the Japanese market.
Calls to Ban Whaling
“Commercial whaling is inhumane, unnecessary and must end”, added IFAW’s Ramage. “Living whales are far more valuable to the marine ecosystem and to the whale watching industry than they are served up on a plate.”
Currently Iceland has a self-issued whaling quota block in place, which will expire at the end of 2023, after which time a new 5-year quota would need to be authorised by the Fisheries Minister.
IFAW, along with other animal welfare and marine animal organizations are calling on the Icelandic authorities to bring an end to whaling and issue no further whaling licences or quotas after this year.
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