Whaling

Modern whaling is extremely cruel. The worlds' whale populations have been systematically targetted and more than 1 million whales were slaughtered last century - plunging many populations and entire species to the brink of extinction. Despite decades of protection, they remain a tiny fraction of their former numbers.

Every year an increasing number of whales are slaughtered and between them,Iceland, Norway and Japan killed over 2,000 whales. Iceland has been hunting and killing whales for scientific research purposes since 1986 and has yet to provide any welfare data to the IWC on killing methods or Times To Death. They claim they use the same techniques as those used by Norway and therefore do not need to provide any data. Presently, there is no reliable criteria for telling when a whale is actually dead which means the individual animal could suffer the most appalling agonies, for anything up to and over an hour, before death or some whales are still conscious when butchered.

At last years' International Whaling Commission, whales emerged the big losers, with anti-whaling nations being unable to halt No.1 hunter Japan. Japan went home without any votes or resolutions against it and Iceland continues its commercial whaling - nothing was achieved for the whales. IWC member governments have been holding a series of discussions leading to the next full meeting in Portugal later this year. If we don't all act now, many whale species could be once again brought to the brink of extinction.