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

Issued on: 13/10/2023 – 19:24

5 min

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 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.

‘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