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.
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