The company that has a monopoly on commercial whaling in Iceland has come under fire in the wake of two brutal killings captured on camera this summer – the first showing a whale in agony for a full 30 minutes before dying, another showing the slaughter of a pregnant female. Though tougher restrictions on whaling have been introduced, Icelandic activists say that the only path forward is a total ban on the practice.
A video showing a whale suffering for nearly 30 minutes before its death after being struck in the head by a harpoon was posted online by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) in mid-September. The footage was filmed on September 7 on board the Hvalur 8, a boat belonging to the whaling company Hvalur. The footage shows a fin whale, an endangered species according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), swimming for nearly half an hour with a harpoon in its head - a rope attached to the harpoon connecting him to the boat. It’s not until 29 minutes after the first blow that the whale is harpooned again and killed.
