Icelandic whalers accused of killing rare blue whales
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STEVE JACOBS
Last Updated 20:11, 12 July 2018
HALF TO PORT / FACEBOOK
A massive whale, It is thought that it is a blue whale, slaughtered in Iceland.
Whale activists reacted with horror to photos that seemed to show that Iceland killed a rare blue whale, the largest animal in the world.
This will be the first time that a member of this species has been harpooned in half a century.
The photos of the Icelandic marine conservation group Hard to Port and Sea Shepherd show the huge whale that was killed by whalers on the night of July. 7.
HARD TO PORT / FACEBOOK
A massive whale, which is believed to be a Blue whale, shot in Iceland, is being slaughtered
Whale scientists, including a high-sea scientist from the International Society Humane Society (HSI), Mark Simmonds, believes that the whale was a whale juvenile blue or perhaps a rare hybrid of fin whale and blue whale
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However, several scientific experts specialized in the identification of whales contacted by Sea Sh epherd and hsi said it was undoubtedly a blue whale
HARD TO PORT / FACEBOOK [19659005] If it is a blue whale, it will be the first time that a member of this species has been harpooned in half a century.
To prove conclusively whether the whale was a blue or a hybrid would require a DNA test, Nicola Beynon, campaign manager at HSI in Austra lia, said.
"Killing a blue whale is unforgivable, this should be a last warning shot at Iceland that commercial whaling does not belong in the 21st century," she added.
Phillip Clapham, of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, said: "It does not entirely exclude the possibility that it is a hybrid, I do not see no features that would suggest it.
19659005] Icelandic fishing tycoon Kristjan Loftsson sees the whale as a blue whale
"D & # 39; after the pictures, it has all the characteristics of a blue whale, since – especially the coloring pattern – there is almost no possibility an experienced observer would have misidentified as whatever it is else at sea. "
It is the 22nd endangered whale exported to Japan by the commercial whaling company Hvalur hf at its Hvalfjordur station since June 20th. The first 21 whales killed were endangered fin whales, which the Icelandic government allowed the company, owned by Icelandic tycoon Kristjan Loftsson, to shoot down despite an international moratorium on whaling. said Sea Shepherd. 19659027] Blue Whales can grow up to 30 meters in length and are protected by the International Whaling Commission since 1966 "title =" "src =" https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/ images / 1 / q / s / 9/1 / w / image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620×349.1qs8wx.png / 1531383071782.jpg "class =" photoborder "/>
SEA SHEPHERDS
Blue whales can grow up to 30 meters in length and have been protected by the International. Whaling Commission since 1966
However, the company has no legal authority to kill endangered blue whales, even in Iceland, Sea Shepherd said.
Photographs taken by the Sea Shepherd team on the ground near the whaling The station allows to identify the color and pattern of the skin, the color of the baleen, the shape of the fin dorsal and tail. HSI noted that the characteristics of a blue whale are a darker belly, all the black dewlap and the bluish color.
Simmonds, of HSI, said: "It looks like Iceland has harpooned the first blue whale for over 50 years.
THE SHEER OF THE SEA
The Hvalur 8 bring slaughtered whales
"It is bad enough that Iceland is already killing endangered species, fin whales, but that begs the belief that this whaling crew could not even tell the difference between a fin and a blue whale.
"The killing of a majestic creature, blue or hybrid whale, represents an important crime against nature. The rarity of these species and the threats to their survival today.
"This terrible incident comes as Japan ruminates that it is planning an attempt to reverse the global moratorium on commercial whaling, and clearly shows how much it is even considering allowing a return to great scale to this extremely inhumane and disorderly industry.Sea Shepherd Hunter, Paul Watson, who has been defending whales for more than half a century, called on the Icelandic authorities to prevent Loftsson from "ruthlessly violating international conservation" "I've seen a lot of blue whales on the surface, dives with them beneath the surface in Western Australia, off the coast of California, in the Southern Ocean and in the south of the United States. ;Australia. "I know a blue whale when I see one and this whale shot by Kristjan Loftsson is a blue whale."
Blue whales can grow up to 30 feet long and have been protected by the International whaling commission since 1966, after illegal and uncontrolled commercial hunting left their populations on the brink of extinction.
Like fin whales, they are listed by the International Union for Conservation. nature as "endangered", with an estimated global population of between 10,000 and 25,000. Before the 20th century commercial whaling, there were about 250,000 blue whales.
– Sydney Morning Herald
