Eclipsed by solar eclipse, European Union negotiations, mink farm release, and even Reykjavik traffic REYKJAVIK, Iceland; PARIS, France––Paul Watson, 75, founder of the Paul Watson Foundation in 2022 after getting the boot from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society he founded in 1977, is counting on global publicity and outrage over the resumption of Icelandic whaling to […]
Some Nordic people rally to save one whale; others rush to kill hundreds
Timmy the stranded but rescued humpback whale lived after release for about ten days BERLIN, Germany; WASHINGTON D.C.; OSLO, Norway; REYKJAVIK, Iceland––Contrasting and conflicting Nordic attitudes toward whales may never before have been more starkly evident than during the six-week drama preceding the May 2, 2026 return to the North Sea of Timmy the formerly […]
Icelandic whalers kept in port by women who chain selves to masts
Anahita Babaei and Elissa Biou held out through cold night, Babaei without food or water, but surrendered after 33 hours REYKJAVIK, Iceland––Slipping aboard the Icelandic whaling vessels Hvalur 8 and Hvalur 9 at approximately 5:00 a.m. on September 4, 2023, anti-whaling activists Anahita Babaei and Elissa Biou climbed the masts of each ship and chained themselves into the […]
Iceland whaling halt upstages Ric O’Barry appeal for Russian beluga
Paul Watson & crew wait near Iceland to see if fisheries minister sticks to her guns against last whaling baron Kristján Loftsson NORWEGIAN SEA––Ric O’Barry, 83, on June 20, 2023 issued an urgent appeal on behalf of Hvaldimir, possibly the most famous of all beluga whales. But Paul Watson, 72, again upstaged O’Barry, as he […]
Iceland fisheries minister hints she may pull the plug on whaling
But whaling baron Kristján Loftsson, 80, will not go down without a fight REYKJAVIK, Iceland––Iceland minister of food, agriculture, and fisheries Svandis Svavarsdottir on February 4, 2022 indicated in a guest column for the newspaper and news web site Morgunblaðið that she may pull the plug on the nearly moribund Icelandic whaling industry. But Kristján Loftsson, […]
COVID-19 brings no net gains for marine life––except in Iceland
“There is no market,” but fish, shellfish, seals, & whales are all still hunted WESTERLY, Rhode Island; HONOLULU, Hawaii; REYKJAVIK, Iceland––Restaurant closures ordered because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have economically crippled the U.S. commercial fishing industry from Long Island Sound to Hawaii, and have hit the fishing industry worldwide, but––except in Iceland, where a case […]
Whaling harpoons Icelandic tourism & the whole nation suffers (UPDATE!)
Iceland suspends whaling after ANIMALS 24-7 exposes how killing whales wounded a whale-watching industry that brings in twice as much money REYKJAVIK, Iceland––The two remaining Icelandic whaling companies, Hvalur, killing fin whales, and IP Útgerð, killing minke whales, on the afternoon of June 27, 2019 jointly announced that they will not go whaling this year, […]
Revenge-seeking Icelandic “Ahab” denies killing the great blue whale
“Blood feud” with anti-whalers began when Sea Shepherds sank two of his ships in 1986 REYKJAVIK, Iceland––Kristján Loftsson, the “Captain Ahab” of the North Atlantic, has furiously denied that the 22nd of at least 27 whales killed by his ships in June and July 2018 was the first endangered blue whale harpooned by whalers since 1978, […]