This year, whalers killed 575 minke whales in Norway—the highest number in five years. Adding this to the Grindadrap Dolphin Slaughter, this past year has seen human activity decimate cetacean populations around Scandinavia. The whaling industry is inherently cruel: about 20% of whales suffer for 6–25 minutes after being harpooned. The whales that survive, as […]
Tag: norway
Puffins under threat as European boats overfish in UK waters post Brexit, RSPB warns
Overfishing by Scandinavian boats in UK waters is threatening the puffin bird, according to wildlife conservation groups. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has renewed calls for “urgent action” to curb the fishing practices of boats from countries such as Denmark and Norway. Under EU quota arrangements that have continued through Brexit, […]
Norway to conduct ‘cruel’ minke whale tests despite opposition
Plans to capture and run six-hour-long sound tests on young minke whales are set to go ahead in Norway despite condemnation from more than 50 international scientists and wildlife experts as “completely unacceptable”. According to the plans, approved by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA), over one or two seasons a dozen juvenile minke whales […]
Dead Baby Orca Shows Harmful Chemical Levels
An autopsy of a 10-day old orca found in Norway in 2017 revealed high levels of chemicals, according to a new study. Live Science reported that the young killer whale was one of eight orcas tested in the study. Seven of the tested orcas had levels of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) high enough to cause health […]
Norway Planning Auditory Experiment Using Whales
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and other welfare groups are calling attention to a planned experiment in Norway using captured minke whales, according to an email from Animal Welfare Institute. Organizations are urging the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to revoke an approval that could be harmful to whales. According to permits discovered by AWI, the […]
Petition: Demand Norway Phase Out Whaling
Whales are beautiful, intelligent, majestic creatures. Sadly, hundreds of thousands of them die as a result of bycatch, shipping accidents, plastic pollution, among other man-made issues every year. In 1986, a moratorium from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned commercial whaling; however, Iceland, Norway, and Japan refuse to comply. Whaling involves harpooning a whale that […]
‘Minke whales for dinner’: Norway’s controversial whale hunt is still on
Norway plans to kill up to 1,278 minke whales this year, according to a recent announcement made by the country’s fisheries ministry. This is the same quota as the previous two years, although whalers only killed 503 common minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in 2020, and 429 in 2019. “Norwegian whaling is about the right to […]
Norway Releases 2021 Hunting Quota for Over 1200 Minke Whales
According to the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), Norway has issued a kill quota for over 1,200 whales for the 2021 whaling season. This issuance is despite a global moratorium on whaling. During Norway’s 2020 season, over 500 whales were killed. The government also relaxed several whaling regulations so additional vessels could join the hunt. Whalers […]