Whaling Season: July 2018 Update

Norway's annual whaling season has been going on for almost 4 months now, but it has not been a very good one for the whalers. Last year's season was determined to be one of the worst in recent years, and so far this one's not looking any better for them. By the first week of July, 24 whales had been caught in total, 20 were killed outside of Spitsbergen and an additional 4 along the coastline of Norway. This made for a total of 310 registered whales killings, whereas last year's total this time of year had 343 whale killings. This is both good news... and bad news. Good because we, of course, don't want whalers to catch any whales. Bad, because the reason they're not catching as many is due to them not being able to find many minke whales along the coastline, forcing whalers even further north in the barents sea. The lack of minke whales is extremely concerning, especially when you consider that the majority of whales captured over the years were reportedly pregnant females, whose offspring never had the opportunity to aid this population in recovering. 🌊 Please e-mail Norway's Minister Of Fishing named Per Sandberg and Minister Of Tourism named Thorbjørn Roe Isaksen at POSTMOTTAK@NFD.DEP.NO! Tell them you would much rather visit Norway to see whales alive, not in a fishing market!