Tag: Iceland

Tide turns against whalers in Iceland after video emerges of whale’s tortured death

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The company that has a monopoly on commercial whaling in Iceland has come under fire in the wake of two brutal killings captured on camera this summer – the first showing a whale in agony for a full 30 minutes before dying, another showing the slaughter of a pregnant female. Though tougher restrictions on whaling have been introduced, Icelandic activists say that the only path forward is a total ban on the practice.

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A video showing a whale suffering for nearly 30 minutes before its death after being struck in the head by a harpoon was posted online by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) in mid-September. The footage was filmed on September 7 on board the Hvalur 8, a boat belonging to the whaling company Hvalur. The footage shows a fin whale, an endangered species according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), swimming for nearly half an hour with a harpoon in its head –  a rope attached to the harpoon connecting him to the boat. It’s not until 29 minutes after the first blow that the whale is harpooned again and killed.

The whale’s suffering wasn’t just awful, it was illegal – breaking a law enacted this summer requiring whalers to kill the animals “without delay.”


This video, filmed by an independent observer with the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture who was on the Hvalur 8, shows a whale being harpooned a first time (at 3’27) and a second time (at 32’08.) The second blow kills him, but not before an immense amount of suffering. It was published by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST), which also shared the footage with our team.

This bloody hunt was caught on camera because, since 2022, the Hvalur has been required to carry independent observers who film everything that happens on board.  A 2023 MAST report showed that Hvalur’s method of killing whales didn’t follow the recommendations made by the Icelandic Convention on Animal Welfare, especially because of the long duration of the agony.

In 2022, the Guardian reported on the hunting of 58 whales, filmed by experts. Thirty-six whales were shot more than once. Five whales were shot three times and four whales were shot four times. Whalers pursued one whale with a harpoon embedded in its back for five hours. 

This incident led to the suspension of Hvalur’s whaling license on June 20, 2023. The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries also adopted strict new rules that meant that whalers were only allowed to target whales in parts of their bodies which would mean the animals would die quickly. The Ministry lifted the suspension on August 31. However, in the video filmed on September 7, the animal was hit in the head – which was not part of the target zone.

This diagram was included in the new rules enacted by the Icelandic Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries. The shaded parts indicate the areas of the body that whalers must target so the whale will die quickly. © MAST

‘When a whale is killed, it must be done without delay’

Arne Feuerhahn is a member of the NGO Hard to Port, which fights for the protection of marine life in Northern Europe, with a focus on whale hunting in Iceland. 

The new regulations don’t specify what is the maximum amount of time that can be taken to kill an animal. However, they do say that when a whale is killed, that needs to be done without delay once the harpoon has been launched. It is possible that a whale might dive after being hit in a part of its body outside the authorised zone. Whales are highly intelligent animals. Imagining them swimming underwater for nearly 30 minutes with a harpoon in their head is horrible. 

One of our photographers was at the port on September 7 when the boat came back with the whale and he confirmed this incident with his own eyes. We contacted a lawyer, who contacted the authorities and on September 14, the boat was suspended

The head of Hvalur, Kristján Loftsson, justified the incident by claiming that a technical failure had made it impossible to shoot immediately again. However, when MAST looked into the incident, they said that the technical issue only lasted for 12 minutes after the first shot was fired.  

When MAST contacted our team, they said that, after the incident, the Hvalur 8 was suspended and then allowed to return to hunting when the company proved that they had trained their personnel and they demonstrated an ability to hit a target repeatedly both on land and on sea and that all of the equipment used to hunt whales was verified by the relevant authorities. MAST reported that there is an ongoing discussion about whether the company will be fined.

‘I immediately saw that the female was pregnant, she was enormous’

Commercial whale hunting is only allowed in three counties – Iceland, Norway and Japan.  According to Hard to Port, 23 fin whales were killed in Iceland during the 2023 season, which was interrupted in the middle of the summer. In 2022, a total of 148 whales were hunted. Our Observer documented that the whaling company killed at least one pregnant female on September 22:

I was there when the whaling boat came back with a male and a female. With the experience of years of observation, I immediately saw that the female was pregnant. She was enormous. 

The team put her on the ground. They made a few incisions and, suddenly, an enormous baby appeared. I was in shock but managed to focus on what I needed to do, document what I saw. 

I had already seen pregnant females hunted and brought to port, but in this case, the baby was huge and you could see that the female was in an advanced stage of pregnancy. 

I immediately told my colleagues what had happened and I couldn’t hold back the tears.





Unfortunately, it isn’t illegal to kill pregnant whales. At this time of year, it is very easy to catch a pregnant female [Editor’s note: because of the cycles of reproduction]. However, it is illegal to hunt mothers with babies.

We were really disappointed that the Ministry ended the suspension on hunting at the end of the summer. However, the new laws are very strict and hard to follow, the proof being that they were violated in the first few days of hunting

Hvalur’s five-year license expires this year. The Icelandic government will announce this year if they will give the company another five-year hunting license.  

Support for whale hunting in Iceland has dropped massively in recent years. A poll published in June indicated that 51% of Icelandic people were against whale hunting and only 29% were in support of it. Those over 60 were most likely to support the practice

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Small nation or not, Iceland wants to help Ukraine defend Europe, too

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By David Kirichenko, Freelance journalist, Editor at Euromaidan Press

Although one of Europe’s smallest countries and far from Ukraine, Iceland has made extensive efforts to help in Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion, David Kirichenko writes.

When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Icelandic Parliament on 6 May 2022, only a few months after Russia’s full-scale invasion, he began his speech by greeting them in Icelandic, saying, “Hello, this is Volodymyr from Kyiv.”

Highlighting the ancient ties between Iceland and Ukraine, tracing back to Scandinavian settlers who arrived in Ukraine in the 8th century, he highlighted that “the size of a country is of no importance when fighting for democracy.”

The Ukrainian president’s words were not just empty phrases meant to get another ally on board. 

In fact, they couldn’t be more honest and true: as one of Europe’s smallest countries and most distant from Ukraine, Iceland has made extensive efforts to help in Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country and to protect Europe. 

Iceland is no stranger to conflict, and Reykjavik is painfully aware of the threat posed to it due to its strategic location and to Nordic countries as global superpowers like Russia gradually start shifting more resources towards the race for control of the Arctic.

Rushing to Ukraine’s aid from the other end of the continent, the island nation of just 350,000 inhabitants has done more than other much larger and more powerful European nations.

And yet, so little remains known about Reykjavik’s commitment. 

Reykjavik opts for sanctions despite significant consequences

Iceland’s steady support for Ukraine against Russian aggression is rooted in a longstanding pledge to uphold democracy and international law. 

That is why, when Russia first invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea in 2014, Iceland did not hesitate to impose economic sanctions on Moscow, despite potential consequences on its economy heavily reliant on fishing. 

This decision, however, came at a cost for Iceland’s fishermen, as Russia retaliated by banning food imports from the island nation.

Even in the face of potential financial consequences, Iceland’s foreign minister at the time, Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, boldly affirmed during his 2014 visit to Kyiv that the country’s support for Ukraine was unwavering. And it has stood the test of time. 

The impact of these sanctions on Iceland has been particularly challenging, as seafood exports constitute a vital component of the national economy, and Russia represents a significant market for these exports. 

Nonetheless, Iceland has remained resolute in its stance.

The only NATO member without an army

Despite its lack of a military force, Iceland places tremendous value on its membership in NATO, recognising the pivotal role it plays in safeguarding shared values and upholding a rule-based international order.

Iceland is also Europe’s least densely populated country, holding the unique distinction of being the sole NATO member without a standing army. 

In fact, it hasn’t had a military ever since it was disbanded in 1869, opting for a small coast guard with four vessels and four aircraft in total. 

Despite its size, Iceland played a monumental strategic role during the Cold War, as it allowed NATO allies to station troops on its island and offered its support to assist the organisation in the past.

Even in the post-Berlin Wall era, Iceland’s role as a guardian of crucial waterways continues to position it as a valuable ally, despite its absence of military forces.

A show of remarkable solidarity, practical and symbolic

Although directly providing weapons to Ukraine is not feasible, Iceland has contributed by aiding allied nations in the transportation of essential equipment to destinations like Poland.

While Iceland has a non-weapon sales policy, it has helped acquire 10 oil transporting trucks for the Ukrainian army. 

The Icelandic government, recognising the paramount importance of oil transportation in bolstering the defence capabilities and manoeuvrability of the Ukrainian military against the backdrop of Russian invasion forces, sanctioned this purchase.

In addition to these vital vehicles, Iceland has extended further support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which included the provision of 12,000 pieces of winter clothing. 

The country has also already donated three field hospitals to Ukraine, and an additional three are being requested to help treat injured Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. Each field hospital costs about €7.9 million.

On top of that, Iceland has extended remarkable solidarity to Ukraine by not only offering diplomatic and financial backing but also by taking nearly 3,000 Ukrainian refugees while donating close to €500,000 to support the revitalisation of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Beyond their generous financial aid, Reykjavik has taken substantial symbolic measures to show its support for Ukraine’s cause.

Icelandic lawmakers officially acknowledged the Holodomor, commonly referred to as the “death by hunger,” a famine that occurred between 1932 and 1933 as a result of Soviet government policies in Ukraine that saw millions of Ukrainians starving to death.

On the diplomatic front, Iceland has opted to close its embassy in Moscow. Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed Iceland destroyed bilateral cooperation and stated that any actions taken by Reykjavik that are perceived as anti-Russian in nature will undoubtedly trigger a corresponding reaction.

Safeguarding the continent despite Moscow’s sabre-rattling

In today’s context, a parallel scenario is unfolding amidst the tense Arctic Ocean, evoking memories of the Cold War era. 

As a result, the Kremlin’s aggressive behaviour continues to underscore Iceland’s strong support for Ukraine. 

In 2014, Russia established the “OSK Sever,” a Unified Strategic Command, in a bid to fortify security along its vast Arctic borders and safeguard its interests in the region. 

In recent years, the Russian air force has exhibited heightened activity across northern Europe. The Kremlin’s sabre-rattling is, in fact, growing.

While the trajectory of the Arctic is inclined toward potential conflicts, Iceland is increasingly recognising the importance of safeguarding the European continent from the encroachment of an expansionist Moscow. 

And despite the threats, the island nation continues to truly demonstrate that no country is too small to contribute to the collective European defence in Ukraine.

David Kirichenko is a freelance journalist covering Eastern Europe and an editor at Euromaidan Press.

At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at [email protected] to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation.

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With 300 Lawyers Watching Closely, Elon Musk Apologizes For Mocking Disabled Worker

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Elon Musk loves trolling. Even more, Elon Musk loves giving absolute shit to the lazy do-nothings whom he laid off from Twitter because they were dead weight who weren’t willing to be hardcore. So when a laid-off Twitter employee in Iceland took to Twitter to confirm whether he’d been laid off or not (he’d been locked out of his company work systems with no explanation), Musk lit into him, publicly accusing him of malingering and maybe faking a disability, and mocking the guy for obviously trying to win sympathy and a bigger payout.

Oh dear. It turned out not to be some random codemonkey. The shitcanned worker, former Twitter senior director Haraldur Thorleifsson (known as Halli), replied with the details of his disability (he has muscular dystrophy and severe mobility limitations), and pointed out that he’d joined Twitter after the company’s previous management purchased his entire company, the digital branding company Ueno, in 2021.

Thorleifsson is also kind of a big deal in Iceland, as CNN reports. He

has been recognized by the United Nations and the president of Iceland for spearheading a charitable effort to build 1,000 wheelchair ramps around Reykjavik to increase the city’s accessibility.

When his company was acquired by Twitter, he chose to take the payment as wages, so he’d be taxed at a higher rate, as a way of “paying it forward” to Iceland’s social safety net.

Musk may have eventually been tapped on the shoulder by some expensive attorneys to inform him that berating a laid off employee and accusing him of faking his severe disability wasn’t a great look from an employment law perspective. Late Tuesday, Musk finally apologized to Thorleifsson and insisted it was all a big misunderstanding, and golly, maybe he’d like to keep working at Twitter? No harm, no foul, please don’t sue my pants off.

Thorleifsson’s initial request wasn’t particularly mean; he simply wanted some clarification:

Dear @elonmusk [waving hand emoji]

9 days ago the access to my work computer was cut, along with about 200 other Twitter employees.

However your head of HR is not able to confirm if I am an employee or not. You’ve not answered my emails.

Maybe if enough people retweet you’ll answer me here?

Musk’s first reply was skeptical right from the start, asking Thorleifsson to detail the work he’s been doing and scoffing at the projects Thorleifsson said he’d worked on. Musk topped that off with a video clip from Office Space to mock the very idea that Thorleifsson did anything worthwhile at all, haha!

God, why do these losers think they deserve anything from the Great Man?

Thorleifsson replied that well, sure, “you have every right to lay me off,” but a lotta guys woulda actually told people that had happened. He noted in a follow-up tweet that he’d received an email confirming he was no longer employed, and asking if he could please be paid his severance.

Musk, replying to someone else’s summary of the conversation, got snotty:

The reality is that this guy (who is independently wealthy) did no actual work, claimed as his excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing, yet was simultaneously tweeting up a storm. Can’t say I have a lot of respect for that.

But was he fired? No, you can’t be fired if you weren’t working in the first place!

HAW HAW.

Thorleifsson ever so politely posted a long thread Tuesday with plenty of context on his disability and his work history. Quote-tweeting Musk’s accusation that maybe he wasn’t really that disabled, Thorleifsson wrote,

Hi again @elonmusk

I hope you are well.

I’m fine too. I’m thankful for your interest in my health.

But since you mentioned it, I wanted to give you more info.

I have muscular dystrophy. It has many effects on my body.

Let me tell you what they are:

He went on, in sufficient detail to make clear that he has a good life but that he also is very definitely disabled, and now needs help to even get in and out of bed or to use the toilet. He also outlined his business success, noting that

We worked for more or less every big tech company.

We grew fast and made money. I think that’s what you are referring to when you say independently wealthy?

That I independently made my money, as opposed to say, inherited an emerald mine.

He noted that when he sold his company to Twitter, he accepted an offer that was lower than might have been wise, because “like you I made a bet on Twitter having a lot more potential than it has had.” He also added,

I joined at a time when the company was growing fast. You kind of did the opposite.

There was a lot going on. The company had a fair amount of issues, but then again, most bigger companies do.

Or even small companies, like Twitter today.

This is where I would like to offer Mr. Thorleifsson a job at Wonkette, although it would be a big drop-off in income.

He went on to detail his time at Twitter, and how he kept working on everything his manager asked for, although HR never quite explained what his job description in the rapidly shrinking company was. He saved the coup de grace for the thread’s last few tweets:

And now finally to my fingers, which I know you have great concern for. Thank you for that btw.

I’ll tell you what I told them. I’m not able to do manual work (which in this case means typing or using a mouse) for extended periods of time without my hands starting to cramp.

I can however write for an hour or two at a time.

This wasn’t a problem in Twitter 1.0 since I was a senior director and my job was mostly to help teams move forward, give them strategic and tactical guidance.

But as I told HR (I’m assuming that’s the confidential health information you are sharing) I can’t work as a hands on designer for the reasons outlined above.

I’m typing this on my phone btw. It’s easier for because I only need to use one finger. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1633253950198624257

Gosh, we wonder which finger he’s giving Elon there.

He closed by asking again whether he would be paid what he’s owed, adding “I think you can afford it?”

As a postscript, Thorleifsson offered one more thought, referring to reports that Musk has become so paranoid that he is always accompanied by at least two bodyguards when he’s at Twitter HQ, including when he goes to the restroom:

Oh! I forgot to mention that I read you can’t go to the toilet on your own either @elonmusk

I’m sorry to hear about that. I know the feeling.

The only difference is I can’t do it because of a physical disability and you’re afraid someone you hurt will attack you while you poop.

And then, nothing for hours.

Musk eventually tweeted, late Tuesday, to say he was very very sorry and that he’d had a video call with Thorleifsson to clear everything up and everything’s fine now. Musk was just dealing with some inaccurate information — surely a first in the history of Twitter — and now everything’s fine. How are you?

Based on your comment, I just did a videocall with Halli to figure out what’s real vs what I was told. It’s a long story.

Better to talk to people than communicate via tweet.

BETTER TO TALK TO PEOPLE THAN TO COMMUNICATE VIA TWEET.

Ladies, gentlemen, nonbinaries, and sentient AI’s, we present Elon Musk’s eventual epitaph, on a future headstone that will be guarded so that no one may piss on it.

Musk followed that with,

I would like to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation. It was based on things I was told that were untrue or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful.

He is considering remaining at Twitter.

The news reports we’ve seen note that Thorleifsson hasn’t said what his own plans are. But on Twitter, he announced today that he’s releasing a music album. We get the feeling he may be done with Twitter anyway.

[AP / Mashable]

Please keep Wonkette typing at you with any fingers that may be relevant to the topic. We love you!



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