Do we need to hunt (and kill) whales?

Absolutely not! 😡

Whale hunting is cruel beyond belief. A disgusting business which should be banned worldwide.

On 6/15/2026 at 3:18 PM, unblocktheplanet said:

Abridged from original. URL for source in title.

[Opinion. Whales certainly have bigger brains than we do. They roam the oceans singing songs to each other, not troubling anybody. So let’s slaughter them eh!]

Do we really need to hunt whales?

Oceanographic Magazine: 14 Jun 2026

While the rest of the world turns away from commercial whaling, Kristján Loftsson — head of Iceland’s biggest whaling company, Hvalur hf. — is gearing up to restart the hunt of vulnerable fin whales after a historic two-year suspension.

Between 2012 and 2020, Hvalur hf. recorded combined losses of approximately three billion Icelandic krónur – around $20 million – from its whaling operations. 

By contrast, whale watching generates an estimated $26 million annually for Iceland’s economy.

Fin whales are the second-largest animals on Earth and are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. They play a critical role in ocean health, contributing to carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling across marine ecosystems.

The Icelandic Minister of Fisheries is expected to pass an emergency ban and stop Loftsson’s slaughterous summer plans. WDC is calling on the Minister to revoke Hvalur’s licence immediately and to begin the formal process of withdrawing Iceland’s reservation to the IWC moratorium,” said McMillan.

Fin whales are gentle giants capable of communicating across entire oceans through song. They form deep social bonds, experience emotion, and mourn their dead.

These whales do not die peacefully. After being struck with explosive harpoons, investigations found fin whales can suffer in agony for up to two hours before finally dying.

Worse still: Loftsson’s whalers are known for killing pregnant mothers.

During the industrial whaling era, commercial whalers hunted fin whales to the brink of extinction. Decades later, even after global protections helped their populations recover, Iceland remains the only country in Europe still allowing commercial hunts of these vulnerable animals.

And Kristján Loftsson is one of the biggest reasons why.

Demand has collapsed so dramatically that hundreds of pounds from his last whale hunt in 2023 still sit unsold in storage.

You answered your hypothetical question by yourself already. NO

Japan is one of three countries – along with Norway and Iceland – that continues to hunt whales, and officials argue that the industry is an important part of its culture and history – and also provides food security.

Iceland, which has fiercely defended commercial whaling, said it would end whaling in 2024, citing falling demand for whale meat as well as “high operation costs and little proof of any economic advantage.”

Commercial whaling continues in Norway, which experts say has quietly become the world’s leading whaling nation – killing more whales than Japan and Iceland combined.

Dead minke whales on the deck of Japan's Nisshin Maru factory whaler ship in 2015.

Sutton Hibbert/Shutterstock

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/30/asia/japan-whaling-mothership-kangei-maru-intl-hnk/

We create markets for all, as long as it pays.

Same with elephant tusks, rhino horn, tigres, shark fins and so on.

Smaller Chinese fishing boats are on the water 24/7, what they catch goes in collecting bigger boats.

SHarks cut off their fin and still alive thrown back in the oceans, 100 of thousands of them.

A late prince was chairman of WWF, but in meantime went to Africa to shoot.

And rich hunters go to Africa and pay money to shoot what ever is in demand. Just for the fun.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.globus-jagdreisen.de%2Ffileadmin%2Fresources%2Fimages%2FGalerie-2022%2FAfrika%2FIMG_1678.JPG&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=10203131ec7641cd54590a1dd7f2385ae12876219fbe231befbd4b1707ddd908

I think even will there be hunting on humans. Of course you will not (yet?) hear.

There is shown fi in India. Young girls are hunted to force into prostitution and then we are talking about from age 7 years and up or so. Simply, there is a market for it.

Pattaya , Russian mob, holding Russian women as prostitution slaves.

Sometimes it is only tradition, as in

Pilot whales and white-sided dolphins are still being killed in the Faroe Islands under the guise of tradition

Otherwise we for fun kill bulls, roosters, dogs in fights, Or we have "leaders" starting to kill people out in the open, called war or demolish them with sanctions. Nothing new under the sun.

But wait, we dump every year 9000000 (and increasing) TONS of plastics in the oceans, so better to hunt whales as they are going to die anyway on plastic?

30 minutes ago, xtrnuno41 said:

Japan is one of three countries – along with Norway and Iceland – that continues to hunt whales, and officials argue that the industry is an important part of its culture and history – and also provides food security.

Iceland, which has fiercely defended commercial whaling, said it would end whaling in 2024, citing falling demand for whale meat as well as “high operation costs and little proof of any economic advantage.”

Commercial whaling continues in Norway, which experts say has quietly become the world’s leading whaling nation – killing more whales than Japan and Iceland combined.

Dead minke whales on the deck of Japan's Nisshin Maru factory whaler ship in 2015.

Sutton Hibbert/Shutterstock

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/30/asia/japan-whaling-mothership-kangei-maru-intl-hnk/

We create markets for all, as long as it pays.

Same with elephant tusks, rhino horn, tigres, shark fins and so on.

Smaller Chinese fishing boats are on the water 24/7, what they catch goes in collecting bigger boats.

SHarks cut off their fin and still alive thrown back in the oceans, 100 of thousands of them.

A late prince was chairman of WWF, but in meantime went to Africa to shoot.

And rich hunters go to Africa and pay money to shoot what ever is in demand. Just for the fun.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.globus-jagdreisen.de%2Ffileadmin%2Fresources%2Fimages%2FGalerie-2022%2FAfrika%2FIMG_1678.JPG&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=10203131ec7641cd54590a1dd7f2385ae12876219fbe231befbd4b1707ddd908

I think even will there be hunting on humans. Of course you will not (yet?) hear.

There is shown fi in India. Young girls are hunted to force into prostitution and then we are talking about from age 7 years and up or so. Simply, there is a market for it.

Pattaya , Russian mob, holding Russian women as prostitution slaves.

Sometimes it is only tradition, as in

Pilot whales and white-sided dolphins are still being killed in the Faroe Islands under the guise of tradition

Otherwise we for fun kill bulls, roosters, dogs in fights, Or we have "leaders" starting to kill people out in the open, called war or demolish them with sanctions. Nothing new under the sun.

But wait, we dump every year 9000000 (and increasing) TONS of plastics in the oceans, so better to hunt whales as they are going to die anyway on plastic?

Hunting is wrong if it is wasteful, cruel, unnecessary, commercialized beyond need, or threatens populations. But to be honest, hunting animals people feel emotionally connected to will always look brutal and cruel.

At the same time, many people today do not see what is behind the meat in the supermarket, or the eggs they buy. They see clean packaging, not the life, stress, transport, slaughter, cages, and production behind it. That makes it easy to judge hunting while ignoring the system they support every day.

There is a Movie called Baraka, fantastic movie. Look it up

If this movie do not touch you, nothing will

4 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Hunting is wrong if it is wasteful, cruel, unnecessary, commercialized beyond need, or threatens populations. But to be honest, hunting animals people feel emotionally connected to will always look brutal and cruel.

I believe hunting whales is particularly cruel; they are harpooned and suffer a slow death. I would not mind seeing someone sink a whaling boat.

19 minutes ago, Mr Awesome said:

I believe hunting whales is particularly cruel; they are harpooned and suffer a slow death. I would not mind seeing someone sink a whaling boat.

So, you approve of a slow death for the workers on the whale boat, just not the whales. You must be a leftist.

18 minutes ago, Mr Awesome said:

I believe hunting whales is particularly cruel; they are harpooned and suffer a slow death. I would not mind seeing someone sink a whaling boat.

Well, if that pleases you, thousands of fishermen die at sea every year securing food for people who never have to sacrifice anything in life. Modern whaling uses a detonator and a grenade to make sure the animal does not suffer too long. Have you ever hunted animals before? Do you really believe an animal that is shot just falls down and dies immediately?

And what about meat production? Every time you see animals shipped to slaughter, especially in Thailand, you can see the trucks and the conditions they are transported in. Even if you only eat vegetables, fruit and lentils, you are still part of land use, habitat loss, water pollution and pressure on wildlife. Nobody eats without consequence.

I would rather eat wild and free animals as much as I can, or my own livestock, animals I cared for with care, love, and respect. Hypocrisy comes easy when needed.

1 hour ago, xtrnuno41 said:

Japan is one of three countries – along with Norway and Iceland – that continues to hunt whales, and officials argue that the industry is an important part of its culture and history – and also provides food security.

Iceland, which has fiercely defended commercial whaling, said it would end whaling in 2024, citing falling demand for whale meat as well as “high operation costs and little proof of any economic advantage.”

Commercial whaling continues in Norway, which experts say has quietly become the world’s leading whaling nation – killing more whales than Japan and Iceland combined.

Dead minke whales on the deck of Japan's Nisshin Maru factory whaler ship in 2015.

Sutton Hibbert/Shutterstock

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/30/asia/japan-whaling-mothership-kangei-maru-intl-hnk/

We create markets for all, as long as it pays.

Same with elephant tusks, rhino horn, tigres, shark fins and so on.

Smaller Chinese fishing boats are on the water 24/7, what they catch goes in collecting bigger boats.

SHarks cut off their fin and still alive thrown back in the oceans, 100 of thousands of them.

A late prince was chairman of WWF, but in meantime went to Africa to shoot.

And rich hunters go to Africa and pay money to shoot what ever is in demand. Just for the fun.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.globus-jagdreisen.de%2Ffileadmin%2Fresources%2Fimages%2FGalerie-2022%2FAfrika%2FIMG_1678.JPG&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=10203131ec7641cd54590a1dd7f2385ae12876219fbe231befbd4b1707ddd908

I think even will there be hunting on humans. Of course you will not (yet?) hear.

There is shown fi in India. Young girls are hunted to force into prostitution and then we are talking about from age 7 years and up or so. Simply, there is a market for it.

Pattaya , Russian mob, holding Russian women as prostitution slaves.

Sometimes it is only tradition, as in

Pilot whales and white-sided dolphins are still being killed in the Faroe Islands under the guise of tradition

Otherwise we for fun kill bulls, roosters, dogs in fights, Or we have "leaders" starting to kill people out in the open, called war or demolish them with sanctions. Nothing new under the sun.

But wait, we dump every year 9000000 (and increasing) TONS of plastics in the oceans, so better to hunt whales as they are going to die anyway on plastic?

There was far more known about Japanese whaling when Sea Shepherd was dogging them. Then the Japanese switched to satellites and were impossible to find. There are cans of whale meat in Japanese supermarkets.

Whale steak. or a Beef steak. ( cow )

What's the difference if you eat it.

and not kill just for sport.

A whale will feed more people than a cow.

How many animals need to die for your dinner. ?

I have had both, very nice.

Wonder how many hypocrites are on this thread.

maybe just one or two.

Edited June 17Jun 17 by rocketboy2

4 hours ago, Mr Awesome said:

I believe hunting whales is particularly cruel; they are harpooned and suffer a slow death. I would not mind seeing someone sink a whaling boat.

Sea Shepherd and its activists have deliberately sunk or sabotaged multiple whaling and pirate fishing vessels over the years.