TAKE ACTION: Iceland hunting endangered whales.

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Iceland hunts endangered whales

 

 

Iceland hunting endangered whales

 

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http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=474 & aid=7623

 

 

 

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Iceland resumes commercial whale hunt - Watch Iceland Whaling Video

Tell Iceland to call off this hunt before it's too late

International Fund for Animal Welfare October 23, 2006

 

Iceland hunting endangered whales

 

 

 

Warning: Video contains graphic footage that may

not be suitable

for all viewers

 

 

Despite worldwide outcry and a ban on whaling in place since

1986, Iceland, like Japan, continues to kill whales using cruel methods, saying

it's for " scientific " purposes.

 

But now the government of Iceland has gone even further,

launching a commercial whale hunt for the first time in more than two decades, a

hunt that has already begun to kill the endangered fin whale.

 

Send a letter to the Icelandic Embassy urging them to call off

their first commercial whale hunt in twenty years. In order to have the most

impact, please be courteous in your letter.

 

Permits have been granted by Iceland's Ministry of Fisheries

for the hunting of 30 minke whales and nine endangered fin whales. In fact,

whaling ships have already killed their first endangered fin whale. Iceland

already hunts whales for so-called " scientific " purposes, exploiting an IWC

loophole - though the meat from the whales killed for " science " is sold

commercially within Iceland.

 

Yet few Icelanders eat whale meat regularly (only 1.1% of

Icelanders eat whale meat once a week or more, Gallup poll); and there is

limited, if any, world market for the meat. Furthermore, a growing number of

jobs in Iceland depend on the increasingly popular whale-watching industry.

 

Iceland's unique nature has attracted millions of tourists who

increasingly visit Iceland to see whales in their natural environment. IFAW has

worked hard in recent years to help promote Icelandic whale watching and other

forms of tourism. This dangerous move to resume whaling puts all of that at

risk.

 

A flagrant disregard for international agreements to protect

whales

 

Scientists have long agreed that there's no need to kill

whales in order to study them. What's worse, whale meat has been proven to

contain dangerously high levels of mercury, even though it is sold in

supermarkets, restaurants and even school cafeterias in Japan.

 

Commercial whaling is an outmoded, unnecessary and cruel

industry that should have ended a century ago with the use of whale oil lamps.

The government of Iceland should be supporting its nation's thriving and growing

whale watching industry rather than sinking money and political capital into the

resumption of cruel whale hunts.

 

It's quite rare for Iceland's embassy to receive an outpouring

of public comments on a political issue. That's why it's not too late to have an

impact! Please send a message today to protest Iceland's terrible decision to

resume commercial whale hunting.

 

Thanks for all you do,

 

Fred O'Regan

President and CEO

 

P.S. Please let others know about Icleand's commercial whale

hunt.Forward this email to as many others as you can so their voice may also be

heard.

 

 

IFAW © 2006

 

PO Box 193 . 411 Main Street Yarmouth Port, MA 02675

www.ifaw.org