Post by OceanCare

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲? 🐋 🤔 Whaling season is well underway in the northern hemisphere. Norway's fleet has killed several hundred minke whales. Iceland's two remaining whaling vessels set out in mid-June to hunt fin whales, after two years without any whaling. Japan's whaling ships are also at sea with quotas for 412 whales across four species, backed by a parliament that funded a huge new whaling factory ship. And in the Faroe Islands, over 400 pilot whales and several hundred dolphins of other species were killed on a single day in May, one day after these hunts were removed from the animal welfare law. ⚠️ In none of these wealthy nations is there any real need for food from hunted whales. So why does the killing go on? 👉 In a new opinion piece, Mark Simmonds, OceanCare's Director of Science, points to national politics: in all four nations, politicians cite national sovereignty, cultural significance and claims about the impact of cetaceans on fisheries, defending an "ancient right" against "misguided" nations and "eco-freaks". In certain constituencies, whaling wins votes. Yet these are arguments of convenience. Independent science shows that failing fish stocks are more to do with human over-exploitation and climate change than whales. Claims of efficient and humane methods are increasingly open to challenge. There is hope: many nations with a long history of whaling like the United Kingdom or Australia already gave it up when faced with the scientific evidence. Cultural change is possible where there is a national will. 🙌 🔗 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/desDkdbU #Whaling #MarineConservation #Whales INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION