Tell Iceland to Ban Whale Hunting! It’s Torturous, Inhumane…and Illegal Under International Law
Marking an incredible win for animal welfare, Iceland has suspended its fin whaling season this summer! This decision comes after an Icelandic study revealed that nearly half of all hunted whales “suffered slow and painful deaths” during the country’s hunting season last year.
The 2023-published study that led to this decision revealed heartbreaking truths about hunting whales. Explosive harpoons are shot into these intelligent, gentle mammals’ bodies. Then, whales struggle anywhere from 10 minutes up to two hours in violent pain, slowly drowning and bleeding out until they finally die.
Iceland is one of only three countries that has continued to hunt whales for profit even after the practice was banned by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in the 1980s. It’s high time that Iceland caught up with the rest of the world, and admitted that whaling causes unnecessary whale suffering and threatens the biodiversity of our oceans.