First Minke Whale Killed in 14 Years
A team of Icelandic hunters who resumed whaling recently despite international protests killed a minke whale yesterday, the first in 14 years. The team, from Iceland’s Marine Research Institute, plans to kill 37 more in the next six weeks. The hunt is part of a research program, and thus technically legal under the International Whaling Convention, and the hunters say minke whales have become abundant in Icelandic waters. But critics contest that there is no scientific reason for the hunt, and say the nation is using it as a smokescreen to resume commercial whaling. The U.S. has threatened to instate an embargo against the country because of the whaling practices, and environmental and animal rights activists have pursued the hunters in protest.
