First fin whale killed in 2022

24. June 2022

“Today is a sad day for whales and efforts to protect the oceans”, says Arne Feuerhahn of marine conservation organisation Hard To Port as he witnesses the first fin whale of the 2022 whaling season being landed at the processing factory in Iceland’s whale fjord. The harpoon ship Hvalur 9 returned on Friday morning with a male fin whale tied to its side.

“Sadly, we are witnessing the continuation of a wealthy person’s disturbing hobby – killing
sentient and precious marine wildlife for no good reason and in the most cruel way.

Both catcher ships are equipped with several heavy steel harpoons. Once a harpoon is fired into
the whale, an explosive tip is triggered that is supposed to guarantee an instantaneous death of
the animal. A study, however, shows that some animals suffer as long as 15 minutes once they
have been harpooned.

“Most people in Iceland know that whales are hunted, but they don’t know how they’re being
hunted. I believe this practice should be monitored, documented, and made visible to the public.
Visual footage of whaling is indubitably hard to look at, but it is an essential but missing puzzle
piece in an honest debate about the future of whaling”, Feuerhahn continues.

Shorty after Hvalur 9 returned to shore, factory workers started processing the animal.

It’s the first hunting season for Kristjan Loftsson’s whaling company Hvalur hf. since 2018. That
year, Icelandic whaling found itself in the international spotlight after footage emerged that
revealed the accidental killing of two rare hybrid whales (the crossbreed of blue and fin whales).

Earlier this year, the Icelandic Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Svandís Svavarsdóttir publicly cast doubt on the renewal of whale hunting permits past 2023 – an announcement that was met with cautious optimism from conversation organisations and people around the world.