An Iceland Without Whaling is On the Horizon

📁 Archive Document — Historical Record

This article was first published when our charity's original name/branding as 'Sea Shepherd UK' prior to our name change on 18th May 2023 following the removal of Captain Paul Watson from Sea Shepherd entities worldwide (with the exception of the UK, France and Brazil).

Captain Paul Watson remains a member of our Board, and our charity continues to uphold its founding principles of non-violent direct action marine conservation.

This article and its contents are the property of the 'Captain Paul Watson Foundation UK' and forms part of our 21 year history.

Learn more at paulwatsonfoundation.uk/new-name

Commentary by Captain Paul Watson

On Thursday 21st June, Iceland killed their first endangered fin whale since 2015, and crew on the ground were in place to document the whaling ship Hvalur 8 dragging it back to be butchered just before midnight and through the early hours of Friday 22nd June. Way back in 1986, I led the action that sank half the Icelandic whaling fleet and shut down their illegal whaling operations for 17 years. So why don't we do it again?

Hvalur 8 at the whaling station taking on harpoons on June 20th.

Iceland is illegally killing endangered fin whales, and they are the only nation on the planet doing so.

The two ships we sank in 1986 never went whaling again, and now sit on the beach rusting away. But the other two ships remain, and it would be a simple matter to scuttle them. Or it would be simple to mount a high-seas blockade of their two ships with our boats.

We could do it, and we would dearly love to do so. But we can't.

Not because it's not tactically possible.

No — the problem is that it does not work strategically.

If we wanted to generate a ton of publicity and solicit donations for an Icelandic Whale Wars, I am confident we could raise the support.

Unfortunately, there is one very important consideration that prevents us from doing so.

It's because that is exactly what Kristján Loftsson, the owner of this horrific industry, wants us to do.

Since our action in 1986, opposition to whaling in Iceland has increased from a mere 2% to 34%, with another 31% holding no opinion. Only 34% now support whaling, down from 98% thirty-two years ago.

The 34% who support whaling tend to be older, poorly educated Icelandic men. As they die off, the pro-killing numbers are shrinking.

As recently as 2013, an Icelandic poll stated that 60% of Icelanders supported whaling. From 60% down to 34% in just five years shows incredible progress, and corresponds to a diminishing older population.

A direct action at this point would cause Icelandic support for whaling to increase, due to the nationalistic fervour such an action would initiate.

Back in 1986, with practically a 100% pro-whaling population (98%) in Iceland, the whales had nothing to lose and everything to gain from a straight-out physical attack on the ships and the whaling station.

Illegal commercial whaling was shut down for 17 years, and thousands of whale lives were saved.

Not a single person was injured, but two whaling ships were permanently removed from action and the whaling station was heavily damaged.

This summer, Iceland has a fin whale quota of 161, plus an additional 30 carried over from the unused 2017 quota. They also have a quota of 209 minke whales, but have only managed to kill 63 over the last two years. Our sinking of half their fleet in 1986 has slowed down their operations considerably.

First fin whale at the whaling station.

There simply is not enough profit in whaling anymore to justify the replacement of the two Loftsson ships we destroyed in 1986.

These kills today are illegal and violate the international moratorium on commercial whaling established by the International Whaling Commission.

Iceland is actually a more notorious whaling nation than Japan and Norway, because only Iceland targets endangered fin whales. Direct action and a ruling by the International Court of Justice put an end to fin whaling by Japan.

The United States, Australia, Europe and other members of the IWC could invoke sanctions in accordance with international law, but have all refused to do so.

The slaughter continues because of demand by 19% of Icelanders and 12% of tourists — and the number of tourists each year nearly outnumbers the number of Icelanders, so tourism is a driving force keeping this atrocity going.

Americans and Europeans eat whale meat in Iceland primarily because it is forbidden where they live. If tourists stop demanding whale-eating thrill meals, the number of whale kills would decline. Twelve percent of 300,000 tourists each year represents 36,000 whale-eating individuals indulging in this disgusting cuisine porn.

Kristján Loftsson is the sole reason this barbaric industry continues. This one man has been responsible for the killing of over 35,000 whales. The good news is that he will be dead in a few years, and hopefully commercial whaling will die with him.

Unless the Icelanders find reason to become enthusiastic about whaling — and the only reason they would do so is if an outside group physically and dramatically intervened, as we did in 1986.

With commercial whaling dying and whale watching in Iceland being a growing industry, the writing is on the wall. Although I would desire nothing more than to send the remaining two whalers to the bottom, such an action would not be productive for our clients.

Yes, there are many people who want us to intervene and have told me they want to donate to any intervention campaign. However, I have to put the long-term interests of our clients first — and our clients are the whales.

We have not abandoned them. Crews are in Iceland. They are watching and documenting. The illegal actions of Iceland do not go unnoticed, and we continue to try to convince member nations of the IWC to invoke economic sanctions. Unfortunately, we live in a world that lacks the economic and political motivation to enforce international conservation law.

Personally, I can attest that it is very difficult for us not to intervene. I passionately want to destroy these killing ships, and so do those who have stood beside me for decades. But we must operate within the boundaries of the bigger picture.

Loftsson looking over the first slaughtered fin whale.

In 1986, our courageous crew did the right thing, with positive results. Since then, the social environment has changed. In 1986, whale killer Kristján Loftsson was 43 — now he is 75. In 1986, this Icelandic Ahab had 98% support of the Icelandic people. Now that support is down to 34%.

Our ally now is simply time. When Loftsson dies, so does Icelandic whaling. Loftsson has sons, but it is highly unlikely they will invest in new ships and equipment.

Icelandic whaling is dying, and hopefully it won't be long.

Iceland is an extraordinarily beautiful country, with progressive people and exemplary social programmes. They have only one blatantly disturbing black mark on their entire nation — and that is the criminal whaling operations that Kristján Loftsson smears across the face of their national identity.