Operation 86 is the continuation of a fight that began in 1986, when our activists struck at the heart of Iceland’s commercial whaling industry by disabling the Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7 whaling ships in Reykjavík harbour.

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Decades later, Iceland remains one of the last countries still allowing commercial whaling, with Kristján Loftsson’s company Hvalur hf repeatedly targeting endangered fin whales for export to Japan.

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CPWF UK’s presence in Iceland is not new. In 2018, Captain paul watson foundation UK (previously Sea Shepherd UK) launched Operation Mjölnir, documenting an entire Icelandic fin whaling season from land around Hvalfjörður. In 2022, we expanded that work through Operation Northern Exposure, exposing the cruelty of the hunt through images, livestreams, articles and footage from both land and sea.

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That pressure helped force the reality of Icelandic whaling into public view. MAST, Iceland’s Food and Veterinary Authority, later reported serious welfare failures in the 2022 hunt, including whales being struck multiple times and some taking prolonged periods to die. The evidence led to new scrutiny, stronger regulations, onboard monitoring and a temporary suspension of fin whaling in 2023.

Operation 86 builds on that legacy.

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This campaign exists to finish what started nearly forty years ago: to end Icelandic commercial whaling, expose the cruelty behind Hvalur hf’s operations, and make sure the world does not forget the whales killed in the name of profit.