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		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?s=&#038;type=post&#038;topic=whaling" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/whaling/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Whaling</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/whaling/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Icelandic government grants new license to whaling company to hunt 128 fin whales</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/icelandic-government-grants-new-license-to-whaling-company-to-hunt-128-fin-whales/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/icelandic-government-grants-new-license-to-whaling-company-to-hunt-128-fin-whales/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2024 20:59:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/01143205/whaling-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283134</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Iceland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Charismatic Animals, Hunting, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Icelandic government has granted a whaling license to commercial whaling company Hvalur, despite previously suspending its operations due to animal welfare concerns. On June 11, the government announced that Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir, Iceland’s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, had granted a license for the 2024 whaling season, permitting Hvalur to hunt 99 vulnerable [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Icelandic government has granted a whaling license to commercial whaling company Hvalur, despite previously suspending its operations due to animal welfare concerns. On June 11, the government announced that Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir, Iceland’s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, had granted a license for the 2024 whaling season, permitting Hvalur to hunt 99 vulnerable fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in the waters around Greenland and West Iceland. The license also permits the hunting of 29 whales in the waters around East Iceland and the Faroe Islands, but experts say it&#8217;s unlikely Hvalur will sail its whaling vessels to this region. Kristján Loftsson, the CEO of Hvalur, actually requested a 5- or 10-year whaling license in his application that he submitted to the Icelandic government in January. However, the license he ultimately received will only allow his company to whale for the remainder of 2024 without a possibility of renewal. In June 2023, the Icelandic government suspended Hvalur’s whaling operations after a 2022 report conducted by the Icelandic government’s Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) found that many whales suffer immensely after being harpooned. However, the ban was lifted in September of the same year, and Loftsson recommenced whaling for several weeks. Hvalur’s license subsequently expired in 2023, prompting speculation about whether whaling would continue in the Nordic nation. The harpoon ship Hvalur 8 arriving at the whaling station in Hvalfjörður, West Iceland. Two fin whales are tied to the starboard side of the ship. Image by Arne Feuerhahn / Hard to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/icelandic-government-grants-new-license-to-whaling-company-to-hunt-128-fin-whales/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/icelandic-government-grants-new-license-to-whaling-company-to-hunt-128-fin-whales/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283134</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous Alaskans drive research in a melting arctic</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/alaskas-indigenous-join-hands-with-whale-researchers-as-arctic-melts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/alaskas-indigenous-join-hands-with-whale-researchers-as-arctic-melts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2024 12:11:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gabe Allen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/04120726/Screen-Shot-2024-06-04-at-2.07.07-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282896</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and Indigenous-led conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Alaska, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Ocean Warming, Permafrost, Research, Sea Ice, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For a few days each June, the saltwater wind that blows over the fairgrounds in Utqiagvik, Alaska mixes with the smell of coffee, salmonberry pie and fresh whale meat. The festivities start early and end under the midnight sun during Nalukataq, the annual whaling festival. By noon, the tables at the center of the fairgrounds [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For a few days each June, the saltwater wind that blows over the fairgrounds in Utqiagvik, Alaska mixes with the smell of coffee, salmonberry pie and fresh whale meat. The festivities start early and end under the midnight sun during Nalukataq, the annual whaling festival. By noon, the tables at the center of the fairgrounds are filled with slabs of whale blubber, cauldrons of stew and baked goods — enough to feed the town for a month. After a prayer, crew members circle the fairgrounds and fill coolers with food. Meanwhile, captains trade turns making speeches, pumping up the crowd and singing songs into a megaphone. On the first day of last summer’s festival, one cut of whale meat was conspicuously absent from the spread. The kidneys of a bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus), which are usually slow cooked through the morning, were sitting in wildlife veterinarian Raphaela Stimmelmayr’s laboratory eight kilometers (five miles) away at the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management. A family accepts muktuk, whale blubber, at Nalukataq in Utqiagvik, Alaska. Image by Gabe Allen for Mongabay. Stimmelmayr received the organs back in March, just hours after the Little Kupaaq whaling crew successfully harpooned a 25-ton animal. Little Kupaaq member Martin Edwardsen was in the boat that day. With the community’s help, the Little Kupaaq crew hauled the animal onto the ice and butchered the meat. But, as Edwardsen cut out the kidneys, he noticed something off. Tiny translucent worms wriggled along the surface of the organs.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/alaskas-indigenous-join-hands-with-whale-researchers-as-arctic-melts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282896</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Report: Rising slaughter of small whales and dolphins threatens ocean balance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-rising-slaughter-of-small-whales-and-dolphins-threatens-ocean-balance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-rising-slaughter-of-small-whales-and-dolphins-threatens-ocean-balance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2024 08:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Fitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/05162034/a-dolphin-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279494</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Charismatic Animals, Dolphins, Environmental Law, Fishing, Hunting, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Overfishing, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[READER ADVISORY: This story contains images of dead cetaceans that some viewers may find disturbing. More than 100,000 dolphins, porpoises and small whales are killed annually, according to a new review from German and British NGOs Pro Wildlife and Whale and Dolphin Conservation. This update on a 2018 assessment by the same authors reveals concerning [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[READER ADVISORY: This story contains images of dead cetaceans that some viewers may find disturbing. More than 100,000 dolphins, porpoises and small whales are killed annually, according to a new review from German and British NGOs Pro Wildlife and Whale and Dolphin Conservation. This update on a 2018 assessment by the same authors reveals concerning failures to curb the rising slaughter of small cetaceans. “Most people think that whaling and hunting of dolphins, small whales and porpoises must surely be a thing of the past,” Erich Hoyt, co-chair of the IUCN’s Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, who was not involved in writing the report, told Mongabay. “It’s not.” The report, released in February, reviews more than 230 research studies, NGO reports and news stories covering 58 species. It indicates deaths “now well above” the 100,000 estimated in 2018, based on increases in reported small cetacean catch in 12 countries, But the report doesn’t give a precise death toll. The exact number of animals killed is unknown because many hunts are illegal and go unreported, Sandra Altherr, head scientist at Pro Wildlife and co-author of the review, told Mongabay. “What we can say for sure is that … some populations could be wiped out in just a few years if the hunting does not stop,” she said. The authors flag new hunts for previously untargeted species, rises in the use of dolphins as shark fishing bait, and consumption of dolphin meat in new areas as concerning areas of increase. Small&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-rising-slaughter-of-small-whales-and-dolphins-threatens-ocean-balance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-rising-slaughter-of-small-whales-and-dolphins-threatens-ocean-balance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279494</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Iceland&#8217;s whaling paradox (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/icelands-whaling-paradox-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/icelands-whaling-paradox-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2023 20:43:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Micah Garen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/13163843/Fin-whale-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274284</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Europe, European Union, and Iceland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Charismatic Animals, Commentary, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Ethics, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Hunting, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, Whaling, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As I write this, two whaling ships have just hung up their harpoons for the season, and we are all left to wonder, what is next? Was whale number 25 the last fin whale to be killed in Iceland? Or just another bloody chapter in an endless saga pitting one man&#8217;s trophy hunting obsession against [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As I write this, two whaling ships have just hung up their harpoons for the season, and we are all left to wonder, what is next? Was whale number 25 the last fin whale to be killed in Iceland? Or just another bloody chapter in an endless saga pitting one man&#8217;s trophy hunting obsession against the greater good of society and the natural world? Before the harpoon guns were removed from the decks of the whaling ships Hvalur 8 &amp; 9 on the bleak morning of September 30, the ships were full steam ahead – or rather whale oil ahead, as that is what the engines used to run on – hunting endangered fin whales somewhere off the coast of Iceland. And a lot of people were in dismay wondering how this could happen in one of the wealthiest countries in the Europe, with the highest status of women, renowned for its green energy, breathtaking landscapes and stunning wildlife. A country where whale meat is rarely, if ever, eaten. Fin whales are beautiful migratory sentient sea mammals who have roamed the oceans for millions of years. They are the second largest animal on the planet, and one of the largest to have ever lived. They were nearly driven to extinction by commercial whaling over the past two centuries, but since the 1986 fin whales have been protected under an international moratorium on whaling. Hvalur 9 returning to port with whales in tow. Image courtesy of Arne Feuerhahn / Hard to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/icelands-whaling-paradox-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274284</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>International outcry as Iceland lifts ban on what could be last whale hunt</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/international-outcry-as-iceland-lifts-ban-on-what-could-be-last-whale-hunt/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/international-outcry-as-iceland-lifts-ban-on-what-could-be-last-whale-hunt/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2023 15:32:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/01142607/whaling-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272900</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and Iceland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Charismatic Animals, Environmental Law, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Hunting, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Icelandic government has announced that commercial whaling can resume after the activity was suspended for more than two months. In June, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, the country’s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, postponed this year’s planned whale hunt until Aug. 31 due to animal welfare concerns. However, the government has now said in a statement [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Icelandic government has announced that commercial whaling can resume after the activity was suspended for more than two months. In June, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, the country’s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, postponed this year’s planned whale hunt until Aug. 31 due to animal welfare concerns. However, the government has now said in a statement that whaling will be able to recommence with increased monitoring and stricter regulations around hunting methods. Arne Feuerhahn, founder of Hard to Port, a German organization that opposes the Icelandic whale hunts, said that two whaling vessels belonging to Hvalur hf, the only company that currently holds a whaling license in Iceland, are preparing to go out and hunt fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus). However, Feuerhahn said it’s unlikely the vessels will leave Sept. 1 due to an approaching storm. Iceland’s decision to allow whaling to recommence has drawn criticism from environmentalists and animal rights advocates. “It is deplorable that this cruel practice has been allowed to resume,” Nicolas Entrup, director of international relations at the NGO OceanCare, said in a statement. “We are bitterly disappointed by the decision which entirely goes against the clear facts that are available to the government and people of Iceland. We can almost be certain that the Icelandic whalers will not meet the imposed requirements. This cruel, unnecessary and outdated practice needs to stop.” Whale cutting in Hvalfjörður in the west of Iceland. The government has now said in a statement that whaling will be able to recommence with increased monitoring and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/international-outcry-as-iceland-lifts-ban-on-what-could-be-last-whale-hunt/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-272900</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘No future’: Iceland cancels whale hunt over animal welfare concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/no-future-iceland-cancels-wale-hunt-over-animal-welfare-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/no-future-iceland-cancels-wale-hunt-over-animal-welfare-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jun 2023 14:03:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/21123336/Drone-shot-Hvalur-8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270045</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Iceland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Charismatic Animals, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Hunting, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Iceland has suspended its planned hunt for fin whales this year, citing animal welfare concerns. On June 20, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, the country’s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, announced that the whale hunt was postponed because “the fishing method used when hunting large whales does not comply with the law on animal welfare.” This decision [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Iceland has suspended its planned hunt for fin whales this year, citing animal welfare concerns. On June 20, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, the country’s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, announced that the whale hunt was postponed because “the fishing method used when hunting large whales does not comply with the law on animal welfare.” This decision follows the release of a government-commissioned independent report that found that 41% of whales targeted in the Icelandic hunts did not die immediately, but suffered immensely after being shot with harpoons. It also found that some whales took up to two hours to die. The hunt has been suspended until Aug. 31, but experts close to the matter say it’s unlikely it will start after the suspension lifts, since September usually marks the end of the whaling season. A harpoon on an Icelandic whaling vessel. The 2023 whale hunt in Iceland was suspended until August 31, 2023. Image by Arne Feuerhahn / Hard to Port. &#8220;I have made the decision to temporarily stop whaling in light of the unequivocal opinion of the professional council on animal welfare,&#8221; Svavarsdóttir said in a statement in Icelandic. &#8220;The conditions of the law on animal welfare are inescapable in my mind, if the government and license holders cannot guarantee welfare requirements, this activity does not see a future.&#8221; Only one whaling company, Hvalur, holds a license to hunt whales in Iceland, which is set to expire in 2023. Another Icelandic whaling company, IP-Utgerd, ceased operations in 2020 due to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/no-future-iceland-cancels-wale-hunt-over-animal-welfare-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270045</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How do you study one of the world&#8217;s rarest whales?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/how-do-you-study-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-whales/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/how-do-you-study-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-whales/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Apr 2023 19:58:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dana Wright]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/25161246/Eastern-Pacific-Right-Whale-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267841</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Ocean, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Animals, Bioacoustics, Cetaceans, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Mammals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Research, Technology, Whales, Whaling, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nearly twice the size of Africa, the North Pacific seems to be endless. But somewhere in that vast ocean, 30 eastern North Pacific right whales (Eubalaena japonica) live their lives, mostly out of the view of human observers. These remaining leviathans are the survivors of past Yankee whaling – in Herman Melville’s famous words “so [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nearly twice the size of Africa, the North Pacific seems to be endless. But somewhere in that vast ocean, 30 eastern North Pacific right whales (Eubalaena japonica) live their lives, mostly out of the view of human observers. These remaining leviathans are the survivors of past Yankee whaling – in Herman Melville’s famous words “so remorseless a havoc” – and are the most endangered population of whales on our planet. Historically this population numbered in the tens of thousands. I am one of the handful of scientists actively working toward their conservation. I also happen to be someone who’s never seen a living North Pacific right whale. I started working with this species nearly a decade ago when I was hired to analyze underwater acoustic recordings on the presumed feeding ground of these whales in the southern Bering Sea off Alaska. Laboriously, I reviewed every minute of every recording looking for right whale calls, because computer algorithms still struggle to find right whale calls amidst the cacophony of animal sounds in this region. In total, I have analyzed tens of thousands of hours of recordings, listening and looking for right whales. As I worked through these recordings, I came to recognize the seasonal patterns of their calls on the feeding grounds, first appearing in late spring and then disappearing in late fall as the sea ice approached. I observed this rhythmic relationship with sea ice for over a dozen marine mammal species, that together create a symphony of sound that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/how-do-you-study-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-whales/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/how-do-you-study-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-whales/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
					<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/25190132/GS2-TP.wav" length="594910" type="audio/wav" />
					<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267841</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘There’s hope’ for North Atlantic right whales: Q&#038;A with filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/theres-hope-for-north-atlantic-right-whales-qa-with-filmmaker-nadine-pequeneza/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/theres-hope-for-north-atlantic-right-whales-qa-with-filmmaker-nadine-pequeneza/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Feb 2022 08:45:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/02/16084353/banner-three-right-whales-socialising-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=252748</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Extinction, Film, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Interviews, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Politics, Research, Saltwater Fish, Videos, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Midway through a recent documentary called Last of the Right Whales, we get a drone’s-eye view of half a dozen jet-black right whales cuddling and caressing while lolling in an amorphous orb on the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean. The tender idyll of the scene comes through the moment the whales appear onscreen. To [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Midway through a recent documentary called Last of the Right Whales, we get a drone’s-eye view of half a dozen jet-black right whales cuddling and caressing while lolling in an amorphous orb on the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean. The tender idyll of the scene comes through the moment the whales appear onscreen. To the strains of a heart-tugging score composed by Deanna H. Choi, we surface from the film’s immersion in the dire situation these animals face to catch a glimpse of this “surface-active group.” The behavior is part mating ritual, part social break from a life that’s otherwise fairly solitary. “It was the most surreal experience,” HitPlay Productions’ Nadine Pequeneza, the film’s director, told Mongabay. The right whale’s dwindling numbers suggest that the film’s title is not hyperbolic. Only 336 Eubalaena glacialis remain, according to the latest estimate. (Their southern cousins, Eubalaena australis, are faring better.) The reasons for the animal’s decades-long slide toward extinction are legion and complex. It’s a maelstrom in which climate change-induced warming oceans have likely shifted the range of tiny copepods (their favorite prey), and the hangover from relentless whaling through the 1930s has no doubt also played a role. A North Atlantic right whale mother with her calf. Image by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, under NOAA research permit via Flickr. But the contemporary demise of the right whale in the North Atlantic boils down to a two-pronged assault on the species: ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Studies&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/theres-hope-for-north-atlantic-right-whales-qa-with-filmmaker-nadine-pequeneza/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-252748</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Faroe Islands to evaluate traditional hunt after slaughter of 1,400 dolphins</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/faroe-islands-to-evaluate-traditional-hunt-after-slaughter-of-1400-dolphins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/faroe-islands-to-evaluate-traditional-hunt-after-slaughter-of-1400-dolphins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2021 13:13:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/09/17125541/241380294_275225057536616_3050161569938515432_n-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=247264</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Charismatic Animals, Dolphins, Ethics, Hunting, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The recent killing of 1,428 white dolphins in the Faroe Islands has brought renewed scrutiny to the island nation’s long-held tradition of driving cetaceans into shore and butchering them for their meat. Less than a week after the controversial hunt, Faroese Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen called for an official evaluation of the hunt. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The recent killing of 1,428 white dolphins in the Faroe Islands has brought renewed scrutiny to the island nation’s long-held tradition of driving cetaceans into shore and butchering them for their meat. Less than a week after the controversial hunt, Faroese Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen called for an official evaluation of the hunt. The hunt in question happened on Sept. 12 in the Eysturoy region of the Faroe Islands, a Danish territory north of Scotland. After spotting a large pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus) off the coast of Eysturoy, locals used motorboats to drive the animals toward Skalabotnur Beach and then killed them with knives. This hunt was the largest in recent history in the Faroe Islands, according to locals as well as activists close to the issue. Previous hunts — known locally as “grinds,” which is short for grindadráp in Faroese — have generally targeted pilot whales (Globicephala spp.) in pods ranging from a few hundred to about a thousand. Valentina Crast, an activist with Sea Shepherd, a group that has been campaigning against the Faroese cetacean hunts since the 1980s, says these hunts are a relic of the past and have no place in modern society. She said this hunt was particularly brutal since there weren’t enough people taking part and that, as a result, most of the dolphins ended up dying inhumanely. “It was just horrendous,” Crast told Mongabay in a Zoom interview. “We documented a lot of them not being killed properly. So while&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/faroe-islands-to-evaluate-traditional-hunt-after-slaughter-of-1400-dolphins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/faroe-islands-to-evaluate-traditional-hunt-after-slaughter-of-1400-dolphins/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-247264</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Will ‘ropeless’ fishing gear be seaworthy in time to save endangered whales?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/will-ropeless-fishing-gear-be-seaworthy-in-time-to-save-endangered-whales/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/will-ropeless-fishing-gear-be-seaworthy-in-time-to-save-endangered-whales/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2021 07:56:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/09/01074309/Banner-2-North-Atlantic-right-whales-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=246589</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Canada, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Extinction, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Politics, Research, Saltwater Fish, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The report came in from naturalists aboard a whale-watching boat: A 4-year-old whale calf was entangled in fishing rope. He appeared thin, and lesions mottled his body. A few days later, on Oct. 19, 2020, the aerial survey team was finally able to take off in their plane. From high above in their Cessna Skymaster, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The report came in from naturalists aboard a whale-watching boat: A 4-year-old whale calf was entangled in fishing rope. He appeared thin, and lesions mottled his body. A few days later, on Oct. 19, 2020, the aerial survey team was finally able to take off in their plane. From high above in their Cessna Skymaster, they scanned the waters below for the calf, taking advantage of a fog-free autumn day when the winds off the Cape Cod coast had tapered to a breeze. The youngster proved elusive that day and hasn’t been seen since. But the relatively clear weather allowed the spotters from the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Massachusetts, to catch a glimpse of another right whale in distress. This one was an 11-year-old male named Cottontail, and he was dragging “hundreds of feet of rope” behind him. They relayed their observations to their teammates on shore, and soon, the center’s Marine Animal Entanglement Response (MAER) team was at sea, headed in Cottontail’s direction to try and cut him free. Cottontail’s predicament is not unusual. Fishing gear around the globe takes an “incidental” toll on all manner of sea life that it’s not intended to catch, from sharks to turtles to seals, sea lions and other marine mammals. But North Atlantic right whales like Cottontail and the missing calf seem to be especially susceptible to getting bound up. Studies suggest more than 80% of them get entangled at least once in their lives. And the severity of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/will-ropeless-fishing-gear-be-seaworthy-in-time-to-save-endangered-whales/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-246589</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Minke whales for dinner’: Norway’s controversial whale hunt is still on</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/minke-whales-for-dinner-norways-controversial-whale-hunt-is-still-on/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/minke-whales-for-dinner-norways-controversial-whale-hunt-is-still-on/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2021 20:14:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/03/10160900/13931746457_15587b229b_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=240405</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Europe, and Norway]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Ecosystems, Fisheries, Global Environmental Crisis, Hunting, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Norway plans to kill up to 1,278 minke whales this year, according to a recent announcement made by the country’s fisheries ministry. This is the same quota as the previous two years, although whalers only killed 503 common minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in 2020, and 429 in 2019. “Norwegian whaling is about the right to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Norway plans to kill up to 1,278 minke whales this year, according to a recent announcement made by the country’s fisheries ministry. This is the same quota as the previous two years, although whalers only killed 503 common minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in 2020, and 429 in 2019. “Norwegian whaling is about the right to utilize our natural resources,” Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, Norway’s minister of fisheries and seafood, said in a statement in Norwegian. “We manage on the basis of scientific knowledge and in a sustainable manner. In addition, whales are healthy and good food, and Norwegians want minke whales on their dinner plate.” In 1982, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) issued a global moratorium on commercial whaling, which went into effect in 1986. But Norway, despite being a member of the IWC, formally objected to this ruling, and has continued to kill whales every year since 1993. While proponents argue that Norway’s whaling program is sustainable, some scientists, conservationists, and animal welfare advocates disagree, arguing that it is unsustainable, unethical, and runs counter to the country’s conservation goals. Minke whale. Image by Len2040 / Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0). “Humans have a very poor track record of doing anything sustainable when it comes to whaling, and we shouldn&#8217;t continue to allow those kinds of processes to occur, just because someone says they can do it sustainably,” Ari Friedlaender of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and told Mongabay in an interview. “The fact that there is an international ban on&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/minke-whales-for-dinner-norways-controversial-whale-hunt-is-still-on/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-240405</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>481 and counting: Norway’s whaling catch hits four-year high</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/481-and-counting-norways-whaling-catch-hits-four-year-high/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/481-and-counting-norways-whaling-catch-hits-four-year-high/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Aug 2020 09:05:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/08/27085627/8628266356_e49fd51299_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=234289</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, and Norway]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Environment, Fisheries, Green, Hunting, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Species, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Four hundred and eighty-one. That’s how many minke whales Norway has killed so far this year, according to new data released by the country’s Fishermen’s Sales Organization, or Råfisklaget. That’s 52 more than all of last year, and 76 more than the two years before that. What’s more, this year’s whaling season has yet to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Four hundred and eighty-one. That’s how many minke whales Norway has killed so far this year, according to new data released by the country’s Fishermen’s Sales Organization, or Råfisklaget. That’s 52 more than all of last year, and 76 more than the two years before that. What’s more, this year’s whaling season has yet to end, so additional whales may still be slaughtered. Overall, this whaling season is the “deadliest in years,” according to the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), a Washington, D.C.-based NGO. “The current increase in numbers shows how desperately Norway is clinging to its whaling activities,” Fabienne McLellan, co-director of international relations at Swiss NGO OceanCare, told Mongabay in an email. “It’s just cynical to classify the whaling industry, which is artificially kept alive through subsidies, to be of systemic importance during the COVID19 crisis.” A minke whale killed by Norwegian whalers. Image by Michael Tenten / IMMCS. In 1982, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) placed a global moratorium on commercial whaling activities, but Norway formally objected to this ruling. Eleven years later, the Nordic country resumed commercial whaling, and since 1993 has hunted more than 14,000 minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). During their migration in the North Atlantic Ocean, male and female minke whales tend to segregate, with females traveling further north along the Norwegian coast. As a result, about 70% of whales killed in the Norwegian hunts are females, and pregnant ones at that, McLellan says. “Pregnant females are slower and accordingly also easier to kill,” she&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/481-and-counting-norways-whaling-catch-hits-four-year-high/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-234289</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Baby humpback whales bulk up in Hawaii ahead of migration [VIDEO]</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/baby-humpback-whales-bulk-up-in-hawaii-ahead-of-migration-video/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/baby-humpback-whales-bulk-up-in-hawaii-ahead-of-migration-video/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2020 12:29:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/06/05115552/Screen-Shot-2020-06-05-at-10.54.24-AM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=231072</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Alaska, Global, Hawaii, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Baby Animals, Biodiversity, Charismatic Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Environment, Fish, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Migration, Oceans, Technology, Tracking, Whales, Whaling, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Newly released video footage gives us a glimpse of a rarely seen behavior: baby humpback whales nursing in the sheltered breeding grounds of Maui. Here, the young calves must drink enough milk to fatten up for an epic journey: an up to two-month migration across the Pacific Ocean to Alaska. A team of researchers used [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Newly released video footage gives us a glimpse of a rarely seen behavior: baby humpback whales nursing in the sheltered breeding grounds of Maui. Here, the young calves must drink enough milk to fatten up for an epic journey: an up to two-month migration across the Pacific Ocean to Alaska. A team of researchers used non-invasive suction cups to outfit seven baby humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) with CATS tags. Each specialized tag contains a built-in camera, acoustic recorder, depth sensors and tri-accelerometers, and was designed to provide information on the whales’ social interactions, movements, breathing patterns, nursing behavior and nursing frequency. The scientists hope to use this information to better understand the needs of mother whales and their calves during their time in the tropics. Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, and Ph.D. candidates Martin van Aswegen and Will Gough tagged and recorded the whales over a 10-day period in February 2020. The project is a collaboration between the Marine Mammal Research Program, the Goldbogen Lab at Stanford University&#8217;s Hopkins Marine Station, the Friedlaender Lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Sanctuary, Pacific Whale Foundation and the Oceanwide Science Institute. “What we are trying to understand with these new technologies is how much time do calves need to nurse from their moms to get strong and big enough to be able to make their journey back up north to their Alaskan feeding grounds,” Bejder said in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/baby-humpback-whales-bulk-up-in-hawaii-ahead-of-migration-video/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-231072</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Iceland won&#8217;t be killing any whales this year</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/iceland-wont-be-killing-any-whales-this-year/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/iceland-wont-be-killing-any-whales-this-year/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Apr 2020 14:32:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/04/27142547/66419611_2719742001388891_15070357341863936_o-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=229522</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Iceland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Cetaceans, Conservation, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Icelandic whaling company IP-Utgerd announced April 24 that it is stopping whaling completely, while the country’s largest whaling firm, Hvalur hf., says it won’t be hunting any whales for the second year in a row. IP-Utgerd, which mainly targeted minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), cited financial difficulties after no-fishing zones were extended off the Icelandic coast, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Icelandic whaling company IP-Utgerd announced April 24 that it is stopping whaling completely, while the country’s largest whaling firm, Hvalur hf., says it won’t be hunting any whales for the second year in a row. IP-Utgerd, which mainly targeted minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), cited financial difficulties after no-fishing zones were extended off the Icelandic coast, forcing its boats to go further and further offshore. Hvalur, which hunts threatened fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), is ceasing operations because of stiff competition with Japan, among other reasons, according to Kristján Loftsson, the company’s CEO. One of Hvalur&#8217;s vessels returning to port with two harpooned whales. Image by Hard to Port. In the past, Hvalur sold most of its whale meat to Japan, but Loftsson said Hvalur is not currently able to compete with Japan’s own whale meat products, which are subsidized by the Japanese government. Loftsson also said Japan now has strict requirements for imported whale meat, which has made dealings with Japan even more difficult. Additionally, Loftsson said the COVID-19 outbreak would make it impossible for his company to hunt whales and process the meat, since workers would need to be in close proximity to each other, and social distancing rules would be difficult to follow. For conservationists, this interruption to whaling, however long it lasts, is welcome news. “This is indeed terrific news that for a second straight year, vulnerable fin whales will get a reprieve from Hvalur hf.’s harpoons, the sole fin whaling company,” Fabienne McLellan, co-director of international relations&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/iceland-wont-be-killing-any-whales-this-year/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/iceland-wont-be-killing-any-whales-this-year/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-229522</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bid to get ‘aquatic wild meat’ off the menu and under protection</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/bid-to-get-aquatic-wild-meat-off-the-menu-and-under-protection/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/bid-to-get-aquatic-wild-meat-off-the-menu-and-under-protection/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Feb 2020 13:46:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/02/28130032/wild1_Banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=227496</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Caribbean, Global, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Ecosystems, Elasmobranchs, Environment, Environmental Law, Fisheries, Fishing, Hunting, Law, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Reptiles, Seabirds, Sharks, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists and conservationists have long expressed concern about the consumption of bushmeat, mindful of its impact on wildlife and human health. Yet the marine equivalent has received relatively little attention, even as dwindling resources have led more small-scale fishers in places such as West Africa to target dolphins, sea turtles and other mammals, reptiles and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists and conservationists have long expressed concern about the consumption of bushmeat, mindful of its impact on wildlife and human health. Yet the marine equivalent has received relatively little attention, even as dwindling resources have led more small-scale fishers in places such as West Africa to target dolphins, sea turtles and other mammals, reptiles and birds considered “aquatic wild meat.” Delegates representing more than 80 countries took steps to address the issue at the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) conference in Gandhinagar, India, which concluded on Feb. 22. They agreed to develop an aquatic wild meat action plan for West Africa and to coordinate global protection efforts for species targeted as aquatic wild meat, including, for the first time, certain sharks and rays. “Aquatic wild meat is on the rise and CMS is acknowledging that it is a fast-emerging threat on a scale similar to that facing terrestrial animals,” Fabienne McLellan, who attended the conference as co-director of international relations at OceanCare, a marine conservation NGO based in Switzerland, told Mongabay in an email. “People’s reliance on aquatic wild meat is growing across tropical, temperate, sub-Arctic as well as Arctic regions. So whales, dolphins, manatees, turtles, crocodiles, and seabirds are increasingly being targeted as a direct consequence of declining fish stock.” Some NGO participants were not fully satisfied with the steps that CMS parties took, given the urgency to protect these species, many of which have long life spans and are slow to reproduce.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/bid-to-get-aquatic-wild-meat-off-the-menu-and-under-protection/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/bid-to-get-aquatic-wild-meat-off-the-menu-and-under-protection/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-227496</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Japan resumes commercial whale hunting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/japan-resumes-commercial-whale-hunting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/japan-resumes-commercial-whale-hunting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2019 14:30:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/07/02142650/japan-whaling_1210px-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=220108</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Asia, and Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Environment, Fishing, Hunting, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[2163-3717]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For years, Japan exploited a loophole in international rules to continue hunting whales despite being a member of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) bound by the commercial whaling moratorium that went into effect in 1986. The country has now quit the IWC altogether and resumed commercial whaling. IWC members are allowed to issue whaling permits [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For years, Japan exploited a loophole in international rules to continue hunting whales despite being a member of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) bound by the commercial whaling moratorium that went into effect in 1986. The country has now quit the IWC altogether and resumed commercial whaling. IWC members are allowed to issue whaling permits for scientific purposes. Of the nearly 18,000 fin, sperm, sei, Bryde’s, and minke whales that have been taken under these special permits since 1986, the vast majority were caught by Japan’s whaling fleet in Antarctic, Northwest Pacific, or Japanese waters. Japan’s whaling industry was known to frequently disregard the international commercial ban on whaling, selling the whale meat harvested in the name of scientific research in Japanese markets. After the legitimacy of Japan’s whaling industry suffered a number of setbacks — including a 2014 ruling by the International Court of Justice that the country’s Antarctic hunts had no scientific basis, the 2015 rejection by the IWC of an amended proposal submitted by Japan for scientific research, and a 2018 finding that Japan had broken the rules of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) by taking sei whale meat from international waters — Japan left the IWC late last year and announced it would resume commercial whale hunting. The first minke whale caught under the country’s new commercial whaling program was landed yesterday at Kushiro port in northern Japan, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency, a London-based NGO. Japan’s Fisheries Agency has set&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/japan-resumes-commercial-whale-hunting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/japan-resumes-commercial-whale-hunting/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-220108</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New pilot whale subspecies revealed: Q&#038;A with marine biologist Amy Van Cise</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/new-pilot-whale-subspecies-revealed-qa-with-marine-biologist-amy-van-cise/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/new-pilot-whale-subspecies-revealed-qa-with-marine-biologist-amy-van-cise/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jun 2019 14:12:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/07135913/SFPW_Banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=219317</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Research, Species Discovery, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[2163-3717]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For centuries, Japanese seafarers have noted two distinct types of pilot whale in their waters. One, known as Naisa goto, has a squarish head, an almost entirely dark body and lives in southern Japan; the other, known as Shiho goto, is a bit bigger, has a round head and a light patch on its back and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For centuries, Japanese seafarers have noted two distinct types of pilot whale in their waters. One, known as Naisa goto, has a squarish head, an almost entirely dark body and lives in southern Japan; the other, known as Shiho goto, is a bit bigger, has a round head and a light patch on its back and lives in northern Japan. The two types were first described scientifically in 1760, in a classic Japanese natural history of whales, but have long been officially classified simply as forms of the same species, short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus). A genetic study published early this month finds that the two types are actually two distinct subspecies. Short-finned pilot whales have been recognized as a single species, but a recent study found that two unique subspecies actually exist: the round-headed “Shiho” type, left, and the square-headed “Naisa” type, right. Image by Natalie Renier, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Moreover, while Naisa short-finned pilot whales live in tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans, in the Pacific they keep to the west while Shiho stay mainly in the east (plus northern Japan). It was the immense, food-poor expanse of the central Pacific that drove the two subspecies apart evolutionarily, the study authors contend, and not any obvious barrier like a continental landmass. The finding is just the latest shake-up of the cetacean family tree. The discovery of several new species in recent years has prompted wonder that animals as large and captivating as whales and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/new-pilot-whale-subspecies-revealed-qa-with-marine-biologist-amy-van-cise/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219317</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Japan leaving IWC, to resume commercial whaling</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/japan-leaving-iwc-to-resume-commercial-whaling/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/japan-leaving-iwc-to-resume-commercial-whaling/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Dec 2018 12:15:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/12/26120714/826716983_1c4ab53f62_o_1200px-cropped-768x430.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=214088</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Japan, Pacific Ocean, and Southern Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Environment, Hunting, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The government of Japan confirmed today that it is withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and will resume commercial whaling operations in the North Pacific. The IWC, an inter-governmental organization founded in 1946 focused on whale conservation and management of the whaling industry, adopted a moratorium on hunting whales in 1982. The moratorium allows [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The government of Japan confirmed today that it is withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and will resume commercial whaling operations in the North Pacific. The IWC, an inter-governmental organization founded in 1946 focused on whale conservation and management of the whaling industry, adopted a moratorium on hunting whales in 1982. The moratorium allows for IWC member nations to issue whaling permits for scientific research purposes. Japan has openly flouted the moratorium by issuing such permits and selling the harvested whale meat ever since the moratorium took effect in 1986. According to the New York Times, Japan has set an annual quota of 333 minke whales in the Southern Ocean, which led to the capture and death of 122 pregnant females in the 2017-18 hunting season. In announcing its exit from the IWC, Japan said it will stop hunting whales in the Antarctic and restrict whaling activities to its own waters in the North Pacific starting in July 2019. The NYT also reported that Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, said that his country is leaving the IWC because the organization has failed to develop a sustainable whaling industry and was instead too focused on conservation. “In its long history, Japan has used whales not only as a source of protein but also for a variety of other purposes,” Suga reportedly said. “Engagement in whaling has been supporting local communities, and thereby developed the life and culture of using whales.” Environmentalists were quick to blast Japan’s announcement that it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/japan-leaving-iwc-to-resume-commercial-whaling/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/japan-leaving-iwc-to-resume-commercial-whaling/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-214088</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Young right whale dies, likely from entanglement in fishing gear</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/young-right-whale-dies-probably-from-fishing-gear-entanglement/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/young-right-whale-dies-probably-from-fishing-gear-entanglement/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Oct 2018 15:36:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/10/02205911/1280px-Post0025_-_Flickr_-_NOAA_Photo_Library.4444f9d8695a48d782fdea715c0d34d9-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=210835</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Ecology, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fisheries, Fishing, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Research, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[CBO2017]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Entanglement in fishing gear has claimed the life of a second North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) in 2018, according to reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Boaters reported the floating body of a whale off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, on Aug. 26. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Entanglement in fishing gear has claimed the life of a second North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) in 2018, according to reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Boaters reported the floating body of a whale off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, on Aug. 26. Two days later, authorities from NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard put a satellite tag on the carcass and retrieved tissue samples, but they decided not to tow it into shore because it was so decomposed. A North Atlantic right whale surfaces. Image courtesy of NOAA (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons. Only around 450 North Atlantic right whales remain, making the IUCN-listed endangered species one of the most threatened marine mammals on the planet. Late 2016 through the end of 2017 saw the confirmed deaths of 17 of the animals, leading NOAA to classify the period as an “unusual mortality event.” The species’ recovery, after centuries of hunting because it floated when harpooned and as a result was the “right” whale to kill, has been further hampered by low reproduction rates. Observers saw no new calves in the whale’s breeding grounds this past winter off the coasts of Georgia and Florida. Recent research postulates that the persistent drag of entanglements in fishing gear — which ensnares more than 80 percent of North Atlantic right whales at some point in their lifetimes, according to a 2012 study — may be making it difficult for females to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/young-right-whale-dies-probably-from-fishing-gear-entanglement/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-210835</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Japan kills 333 whales, including 200 pregnant females</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/03/japan-kills-333-whales-including-200-pregnant-females/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/03/japan-kills-333-whales-including-200-pregnant-females/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Mar 2016 14:57:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/03/01220254/Japan_Factory_Ship_Nisshin_Maru_Whaling_Mother_and_Calf-683x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=185323</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Hunting, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Japan’s whaling ships kill hundreds of whales almost every year. This year too, Japan has returned with a harvest of 333 Antarctic Minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis), including 200 pregnant females. This latest hunt seems to be in apparent violation of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) 2014 ruling ordering Japan to halt all whaling. In [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Japan’s whaling ships kill hundreds of whales almost every year. This year too, Japan has returned with a harvest of 333 Antarctic Minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis), including 200 pregnant females. This latest hunt seems to be in apparent violation of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) 2014 ruling ordering Japan to halt all whaling. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling. But it allowed killing whales for research purposes. Japan has since then been accused of using this loophole to continue with its whaling program for “scientific research”. Not convinced by the justification of their whaling program, the ICJ ordered Japan to stop all whaling in 2014. &#8220;In light of the fact that JARPA II [Japan&#8217;s whaling program] has been going on since 2005 and has involved the killing of about 3,600 minke whales, the scientific output to date appears limited,” the court wrote in its judgment. Following the order, Japan did temporarily halt its whaling program. But it revised its program and resolved to resume whaling in 2015-16. Japan maintains that the killing of whales, including juveniles and pregnant females, is necessary to determine whether the Anatarctic whale population is healthy for future commercial whaling. The country plans to kill about 4,000 whales over the next 12 years. A minke whale and her one-year-old calf are dragged aboard the Nisshin Maru, a Japanese whaling vessel (2008). Photo courtesy of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. Conservationists are outraged. In a letter to Nature in January this year,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/03/japan-kills-333-whales-including-200-pregnant-females/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-185323</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mystery whale known only from specimens found living in the wild</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/11/mystery-whale-known-only-from-specimens-found-living-in-the-wild/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/11/mystery-whale-known-only-from-specimens-found-living-in-the-wild/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2015 02:58:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/11/03140517/110315_RKessler_OmurasWhale1-520x273.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Indian Ocean, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Cryptic Species, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Oceans, Species Discovery, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the waters off Madagascar, scientists have at last encountered living members of a species of whale known only from old, dead specimens. Shaped like a sleek torpedo, with unusual asymmetrical markings, the elusive Omura&#8217;s whale has for the first time been documented in photos, videos, and audio recordings. In the 1970s, scientists initially classified [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the waters off Madagascar, scientists have at last encountered living members of a species of whale known only from old, dead specimens. Shaped like a sleek torpedo, with unusual asymmetrical markings, the elusive Omura&#8217;s whale has for the first time been documented in photos, videos, and audio recordings. In the 1970s, scientists initially classified eimadaght whales killed by Japanese whalers in the eastern Indian and western Pacific oceans as Bryde&#8217;s whales (Balaenoptera edeni). Measuring between 33 and 38 feet long, the animals were considered smaller &#8220;pygmy&#8221; Bryde&#8217;s whales, which usually measure around 45 feet long. It wasn&#8217;t until 2003 that another team of researchers, examining DNA evidence from the eight whaling specimens and a stranded animal, concluded that the whales actually belonged to a new-to-science species that came to be called Omura&#8217;s whale (B. omurai). Subsequent studies have identified other stranded or hunted animals as members of the same species based on DNA and skeletal evidence. Up to now, however, there have been no first-hand observations of living Omura&#8217;s whales described in the scientific literature that could shed light on the animals&#8217; behavior, biology, or ecology; only a handful of unconfirmed sightings. A never-before photographed Omura&#8217;s whale. Photo reproduced from Cerchio et al. 2015, courtesy of New England Aquarium. In 2007 a team led by Salvatore Cerchio, a marine mammal biologist then with the Wildlife Conservation Society, began studying cetaceans off the northwestern coast of Madagascar. Starting in 2011, they began spotting a few small rorqual whales — species with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/11/mystery-whale-known-only-from-specimens-found-living-in-the-wild/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-156560</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Hunted orcas spotlight Caribbean whaling</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/08/hunted-orcas-spotlight-caribbean-whaling/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/08/hunted-orcas-spotlight-caribbean-whaling/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Aug 2015 16:42:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/08/03164529/0817_MGaworecki_OrcaHunt_Orcas-497x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean and St. Vincent and the Grenadines]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Fisheries, Oceans, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Whalers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines recently caught four killer whales, raising health concerns over the consumption of cetacean meat as well as new scrutiny of the Caribbean country&#8217;s exemption from a global ban on commercial whaling. Hunters from the town of Barrouallie on the main island of St. Vincent caught the four killer whales, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Whalers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines recently caught four killer whales, raising health concerns over the consumption of cetacean meat as well as new scrutiny of the Caribbean country&#8217;s exemption from a global ban on commercial whaling. Hunters from the town of Barrouallie on the main island of St. Vincent caught the four killer whales, or orcas (Orcinus orca), on July 12, according to I-Witness News. The outlet reports that the whalers said the animals measured 40, 29, 22, and 18 feet long. The community of Barrouallie has been hunting small cetaceans like dolphins, porpoises, orcas, and short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) since the early 1900s. These kinds of hunts take place in at least one other place in the Caribbean, although their scale and implications for cetacean conservation are not well understood, experts say. Barrouallie whalers&#8217; records suggest their catches may total several hundred small cetaceans per year, according to Russell Fielding, an assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, who studied the community&#8217;s whale hunts for his doctoral dissertation. People process orca meat and blubber in the town of Barrouallie in July. Photo credit: https://www.iwnsvg.com. So far, there&#8217;s no evidence that the Barrouallie hunts affect cetacean populations, Fielding told mongabay.com in an email. “The population counts of most, if not all, cetacean species resident in the Caribbean are unknown. This makes it very hard to estimate the impact of a hunting operation like the one in Barrouallie,&#8221; Fielding said. &#8220;The best&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/08/hunted-orcas-spotlight-caribbean-whaling/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-66424</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Expert panel rebukes Japan&#8217;s new whaling proposal</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/expert-panel-rebukes-japans-new-whaling-proposal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/expert-panel-rebukes-japans-new-whaling-proposal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2015 14:27:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2015/04/expert-panel-rebukes-japans-new-whaling-proposal/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica, Asia, Japan, and Southern Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Environment, Environmental Policy, Green, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Politics, Science, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Antarctic minke whale caught be Japanese vessel, the Yushin Maru, in 2008. Photo by: Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Japan must halt its whaling activities in the Southern Ocean as it found no evidence that the killing of hundreds of Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Antarctic minke whale caught be Japanese vessel, the Yushin Maru, in 2008. Photo by: Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Japan must halt its whaling activities in the Southern Ocean as it found no evidence that the killing of hundreds of Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) was scientifically justified. The ruling sent Japan scrambling for a new plan to continue its &#8216;scientific&#8217; whale hunt, which critics argue is simply an excuse to kill whales for commercial meat. But, now an expert panel with the International Whaling Commission (IWC), has rebuked Japan&#8217;s latest plan as well. &#8220;The current proposal does not demonstrate the need for lethal sampling,&#8221; the expert panel concluded. In the report, Japan argued that it planned to continues its whaling activities in the Southern Ocean to compile demographic data on Antarctic minke whales. The country intends to use the data to make the case for a sustainable, commercial hunt in the future. Japan also argued that the whale hunt would improve scientific understanding of the Antarctic ecosystem. Both of these objectives were outlined by the ICJ ruling, yet the IWC expert panel remained unconvinced over the need for &#8220;lethal sampling&#8221; to better understand whales and the general ecosystem. In its newest plan, Japan cut its whaling quota by nearly 65 percent. Before the ICJ ruling, Japan targeted 935 Antarctic minke whales every year, but it&#8217;s newest plan dropped that target down to 333 whales annually for the next&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/expert-panel-rebukes-japans-new-whaling-proposal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23844</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Genetic sleuthing reveals grisly details of historic whale hunting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/11/genetic-sleuthing-reveals-grisly-details-of-historic-whale-hunting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/11/genetic-sleuthing-reveals-grisly-details-of-historic-whale-hunting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2014 17:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/11/genetic-sleuthing-reveals-grisly-details-of-historic-whale-hunting/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica and South Georgia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, DNA, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Genetics, Green, History, Hunting, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Past whaling may have resulted in lost cultural knowledge for world&#8217;s biggest mammals Relict whaling and sealing ships at Grytviken, South Georgia. Photo by: Liam Quinn/Creative Commons 2.0. In 1904, Carl Anton Larsen, a Norwegian Antarctic explorer, arrived at Grytviken on the British island of South Georgia with three ships and 60 men, to establish [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Past whaling may have resulted in lost cultural knowledge for world&#8217;s biggest mammals Relict whaling and sealing ships at Grytviken, South Georgia. Photo by: Liam Quinn/Creative Commons 2.0. In 1904, Carl Anton Larsen, a Norwegian Antarctic explorer, arrived at Grytviken on the British island of South Georgia with three ships and 60 men, to establish its first commercial whaling station. The number of whaling stations soon increased, and by 1965 these had caught and processed an estimated 175,250 whales. Over the 61 years of whaling, great whale populations in the South Georgian waters were driven to near extinction. And what remained on the shores of Grytviken were scattered piles of whale bones. But these bones are today revealing new information about the bygone industry&#8217;s impact, according to a recent paper in Marine Mammal Science. By using mitochondrial DNA from 231 of these bones, researchers at Oregon State University have now identified the species of whales that the whalers hunted. In all, the researchers found that most of the bones (158 out of 231) belonged to humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), 51 were from fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), 18 were from blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), two were from sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis), and one bone was from a southern right whale (Eubalaena australis). One bone did not belong to a whale at all, but a southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina). They also compared the frequency of species found in the bone collection to the whalers&#8217; catch record, and found that it closely&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/11/genetic-sleuthing-reveals-grisly-details-of-historic-whale-hunting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-24504</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Norway slaughters over 700 whales this season</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/norway-slaughters-over-700-whales-this-season/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/norway-slaughters-over-700-whales-this-season/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2014 20:34:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/09/norway-slaughters-over-700-whales-this-season/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Europe, and Norway]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Cetaceans, Environment, Green, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Norway has its biggest minke whaling season in over 20 years. As of late August, Norway has killed 729 northern minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) during its annual whaling season, the highest number taken since 1993. Norway continues whaling by having filed an &#8220;objection&#8221; under the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which has banned whaling worldwide aside [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Norway has its biggest minke whaling season in over 20 years. As of late August, Norway has killed 729 northern minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) during its annual whaling season, the highest number taken since 1993. Norway continues whaling by having filed an &#8220;objection&#8221; under the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which has banned whaling worldwide aside from a few exceptions for indigenous peoples. Only three countries continue to practice whaling: Iceland, Norway, and Japan. In contrast to Norway, both Iceland and Japan conduct whaling under a research banner. However, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently ruled that Japan could not continue its hunt as it had conducted little science despite the slaughter of 3,600 whales. Japan is now trying to circumvent the ruling by abiding by research regulations. These three countries have also lobbied to overturn the IWC ban on whaling. Svein Ove Haugland, deputy director of the Norwegian Fishermen&#8217;s Sales Organization, admitted to the Agence France-Presse that demand for whale meat is dropping even while the 2014 season was &#8220;very good.&#8221; Northern minke whale. Photo by: NOAA. &#8220;There&#8217;s a bottleneck in the market and the distribution. We must rebuild demand for whale meat, subject to tough competition from meat and fish,&#8221; he said. Norway has a quota of 1,286 whales for the total season. The northern minke whale is the smallest rorqual whale&#8212;a cetacean family consisting of nine species&#8212;and the second smallest of the world&#8217;s baleen baleen whale. The northern minke is currently listed as Least Concern by the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/norway-slaughters-over-700-whales-this-season/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-24723</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Japan changes its mind about Antarctic whaling ban, plans to continue hunts in 2015</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/japan-changes-its-mind-about-antarctic-whaling-ban-plans-to-continue-hunts-in-2015/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/japan-changes-its-mind-about-antarctic-whaling-ban-plans-to-continue-hunts-in-2015/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Apr 2014 18:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/04/japan-changes-its-mind-about-antarctic-whaling-ban-plans-to-continue-hunts-in-2015/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica, Japan, and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Green, Oceans, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservation groups were jubilant in response to last month&#8217;s ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) banning Japan&#8217;s long-standing &#8220;research&#8221; whaling practices in the Antarctic. However, the celebrations proved short-lived after news last week that Japan has rescinded its agreement to abide by the ruling and stop whaling altogether, opting instead to redesign its [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservation groups were jubilant in response to last month&#8217;s ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) banning Japan&#8217;s long-standing &#8220;research&#8221; whaling practices in the Antarctic. However, the celebrations proved short-lived after news last week that Japan has rescinded its agreement to abide by the ruling and stop whaling altogether, opting instead to redesign its program in effort to continue whale hunts in the Southern Ocean. Huge numbers of whales were harvested in the 19th and 20th centuries. By the 1930s, total global kills amounted to more than 50,000 animals annually, far exceeding sustainable limits. Among the most impacted species were blue whales, right whales and gray whales, which were reduced by upwards of 95 percent. To curtail population losses and reduce the risk of extinctions, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) implemented a global ban on commercial whaling in 1986. A minke whale and her one-year-old calf are dragged aboard the Nisshin Maru, a Japanese whaling vessel (2008). Photo courtesy of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. However, a handful of countries objected to the ban and allowed their large-scale whaling practices to persist. Among them, Japan continued whaling for purported research purposes, reporting annual catches of 600-1,300 animals for both its North Pacific and Antarctic fleets. With the meat from harvests publicly sold in Japan, the scientific validity of these whale harvests has long been regarded as dubious by conservation organizations. “For a long time it has been evident that ‘science’ has been abused at a breath-taking scale&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/japan-changes-its-mind-about-antarctic-whaling-ban-plans-to-continue-hunts-in-2015/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25332</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Court partially stops Japan&#8217;s &#8216;scientific&#8217; whaling, but Pacific harvests to continue</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/court-partially-stops-japans-scientific-whaling-but-pacific-harvests-to-continue/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/court-partially-stops-japans-scientific-whaling-but-pacific-harvests-to-continue/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Apr 2014 19:11:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/04/court-partially-stops-japans-scientific-whaling-but-pacific-harvests-to-continue/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica, Australia, Japan, and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Green, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Japan has harvested thousands of whales in North Pacific and Antarctic waters since the implementation of a global ban on whaling, eliciting harsh criticism from the international community. Now, in a landmark decision, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Japan must cease its whaling activities in the Antarctic. The advent of factory [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Japan has harvested thousands of whales in North Pacific and Antarctic waters since the implementation of a global ban on whaling, eliciting harsh criticism from the international community. Now, in a landmark decision, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Japan must cease its whaling activities in the Antarctic. The advent of factory ships, exploding harpoons and other technologies allowed commercial whaling industries to harvest huge numbers of whales in the 19th and 20th centuries. By the 1930s, total global kills amounted to more than 50,000 animals annually, far exceeding sustainable limits. Among the most impacted species were blue whales, right whales and gray whales, which were reduced by upwards of 95 percent. To curtail population losses and reduce the risk of extinctions, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) implemented a global ban on commercial whaling in 1986. However, a handful of countries objected to the ban and allowed their large-scale whaling practices to persist. Among them, Japan continued whaling for purported research purposes, reporting annual catches of 600-1300 animals for both its North Pacific and Antarctic fleets. A minke whale and her one-year-old calf are dragged aboard the Nisshin Maru, a Japanese whaling vessel (2008). Photo courtesy of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. The scientific validity of Japan’s whaling has been questioned by environmental organizations and other nations. In 2010, Australia brought a case against Japan via the ICJ, arguing it disguised its commercial whaling activities as research so that it could take advantage of a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/court-partially-stops-japans-scientific-whaling-but-pacific-harvests-to-continue/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25451</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Japanese whale hunt stopped, for now</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/japanese-whale-hunt-stopped-for-now/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/japanese-whale-hunt-stopped-for-now/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jan 2014 23:44:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/01/japanese-whale-hunt-stopped-for-now/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cetaceans, Environment, Fishing, Green, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Three dead minke whales photographed by Sea Shepherd&#8217;s helicopter. Courtesy of Sea Shepherd Australia. Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said its fleet of ships has successfully disrupted the annual Japanese whale hunt in the waters off Antarctica. &#8220;After a 360-mile chase, The Sea Shepherd Fleet drove the Japanese whaling fleet’s factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, out [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Three dead minke whales photographed by Sea Shepherd&#8217;s helicopter. Courtesy of Sea Shepherd Australia. Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said its fleet of ships has successfully disrupted the annual Japanese whale hunt in the waters off Antarctica. &#8220;After a 360-mile chase, The Sea Shepherd Fleet drove the Japanese whaling fleet’s factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, out of the Antarctic Treaty Zone,&#8221; said the group in an emailed statement. &#8220;Sea Shepherd has all ships in the Japanese whaling fleet accounted for, and can confirm that the whale poaching fleet is scattered and currently not hunting whales. The harpoon ships are separated by hundreds of miles. The Nisshin Maru is on the run and unable to stop and whale in its self-designated whale-poaching grounds.&#8221; The whaling vessels fled their hunting grounds less than a day-and-a-half into the hunting season. Sea Shepherd said the fleet has killed four Minke whales so far. The activist group says its effort to shut down commercial whaling by the Japanese however is far from over. “We have won this battle, but the war for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary will wage on over the coming months,” said Adam Meyerson, Captain of The Sam Simon, one of Sea Shepherd&#8217;s three ships. Sea Shepherd is highly controversial for taking direct action against whalers. Japan says the tactics amount to piracy and put lives at risk, but Sea Shepherd maintains that it is merely enforcing anti-poaching laws. For example, Sea Shepherd says that Japan was whaling inside the Southern Ocean Whale&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/japanese-whale-hunt-stopped-for-now/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25863</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Australia aims to end Japan&#8217;s whaling</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/australia-aims-to-end-japans-whaling/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/australia-aims-to-end-japans-whaling/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jun 2013 15:03:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justin Mccurry]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/06/australia-aims-to-end-japans-whaling/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Japan, and Southern Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Environment, Environmental Law, Green, Law, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Australia is hoping to put a permanent end to Japan&#8217;s annual slaughter of hundreds of whales in the Southern Ocean, in a landmark legal challenge that begins this week. Australia, a vocal opponent of Japan&#8217;s annual &#8220;scientific&#8221; hunts in the Antarctic, says it is confident that the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Australia is hoping to put a permanent end to Japan&#8217;s annual slaughter of hundreds of whales in the Southern Ocean, in a landmark legal challenge that begins this week. Australia, a vocal opponent of Japan&#8217;s annual &#8220;scientific&#8221; hunts in the Antarctic, says it is confident that the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague will outlaw the hunts at the end of a highly anticipated case that is due to start on Wednesday. The whaling fleet attempts to kill 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales every year in the Southern Ocean&#8212;which Australia declared a whale sanctuary in 1999 – amid protests from conservation groups and countries in the region. Australia&#8217;s attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said he was confident that the ICJ would ban the hunts before the next expedition begins at the end of this year. &#8220;We want commercial whaling to stop and that includes the so-called scientific whaling program that Japan has been carrying on for many years,&#8221; Dreyfus, who will make Australia&#8217;s case at The Hague, told reporters. &#8220;There&#8217;s no appeal from the decisions of the international court of justice. Of course we&#8217;re hopeful of getting the result that we want,&#8221; he said. Bill Campbell, the Australian agent who will present the opening case against Japan, told the Guardian: &#8220;We have taken this case because we believe the whaling being done by Japan is blatantly commercial whaling and is not for any scientific purpose. It is in breach of the international convention. &#8220;There&#8217;s no higher court&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/australia-aims-to-end-japans-whaling/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28789</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Japan killed record low number of whales</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/japan-killed-record-low-number-of-whales/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/japan-killed-record-low-number-of-whales/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Apr 2013 21:44:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Cetaceans, Environment, Green, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Japan blamed environmental activists for a &#8220;record low&#8221; take during this year&#8217;s whaling season in the Southern Ocean, reports Kyodo News. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said the recent hunt yielded only 103 Antarctic minke whales and no fin whales, according to the agency&#8217;s web site. The target had been 1,000 whales for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Japan blamed environmental activists for a &#8220;record low&#8221; take during this year&#8217;s whaling season in the Southern Ocean, reports Kyodo News. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said the recent hunt yielded only 103 Antarctic minke whales and no fin whales, according to the agency&#8217;s web site. The target had been 1,000 whales for the 48-day whaling season. Hayashi said relentless harassment by Sea Shepherd, an anti-whaling group, disrupted the hunt four times and forced Japanese vessels to spent three weeks evading the environmentalists. He called Sea Shepherd&#8217;s actions &#8220;unforgivable sabotage&#8221;. Japan says its whale harvest is for scientific purposes, but environmentalists and several foreign governments argue that it is largely a commercial activity, noting that the meat is sold in Japanese markets. Japan has also been criticized for its annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins, an issue that was the subject of the 2009 Oscar winning documentary, The Cove. Japan has been conducting &#8220;research whaling&#8221; since 1987. Humpback whale in Alaska Related articlesThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/japan-killed-record-low-number-of-whales/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29270</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon.com stops selling whale meat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/02/amazon-com-stops-selling-whale-meat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/02/amazon-com-stops-selling-whale-meat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Feb 2012 18:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/02/amazon-com-stops-selling-whale-meat/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Cetaceans, Dolphins, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Japan, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, pulled all whale meat products (and possibly dolphin meat) from its site after a new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Humane Society International highlighted the issue. Last December the organizations recorded 147 whale products on sale at Amazon Japan despite an international whaling moratorium since [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Amazon Japan, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, pulled all whale meat products (and possibly dolphin meat) from its site after a new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Humane Society International highlighted the issue. Last December the organizations recorded 147 whale products on sale at Amazon Japan despite an international whaling moratorium since 1986. Japan, along with Iceland and Norway, continues to industrially hunt whales. Japan says their whale hunt is for scientific purposes only, but environmentalists dispute this. Products on Amazon Japan included fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) and sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis), both listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List; Byrde&#8217;s whale (Balaenoptera edeni), listed as Data Deficient; and minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), Least Concern. A third of the &#8220;whale meat&#8221; products did not list species&#8212;bucking Japanese law&#8212;highlighting the likelihood that some of the meat was dolphin. Many of the products originated from Taiji, Japan made famous in the documentary The Cove for the slaughter of whales and dolphin. Consuming whale or dolphin comes with considerable health risks. Investigators with the EIA bought eight of the whale meat products to test them for mercury. Six of the eight products (75 percent) had mercury levels above Japanese government limits. One of the products had a mercury level of 20 parts per million, 50 times higher than the legal limit. When contacted, a representative of Amazon.com simply said, &#8220;The items you referenced are not available for sale.&#8221; In response to Amazon.com taking down the whale meat, EIA campaigner&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/02/amazon-com-stops-selling-whale-meat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-31284</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How much is the life of a whale worth?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/how-much-is-the-life-of-a-whale-worth/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/how-much-is-the-life-of-a-whale-worth/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/01/how-much-is-the-life-of-a-whale-worth/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Europe, Iceland, Japan, and Norway]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Cetaceans, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Economics, Environment, Green, In-situ Conservation, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Minke whale kabob served up at the Sea Baron restaurant in Reykjavik Harbour area, Iceland. Photo by:Thjurexoell. How do you end a decades-long conflict between culture and conservation? How do you stop a conflict where both sides are dug in? A new paper in Nature proposes a way to end the long and bitter battle [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Minke whale kabob served up at the Sea Baron restaurant in Reykjavik Harbour area, Iceland. Photo by:Thjurexoell. How do you end a decades-long conflict between culture and conservation? How do you stop a conflict where both sides are dug in? A new paper in Nature proposes a way to end the long and bitter battle over whaling: environmentalists could pay whalers not to whale. The idea proposes a marketing scheme in which a quota of whales would be sold to whalers. The key, however, is that environmental groups or wealthy conservation-minded individuals could also purchase quotas, essentially saving individual whales from whalers. The authors calculated that the life of a minke whale would cost around $13,000 and a fin whale around $85,000, prices, they say, that are within the reach of a number of conservation organizations. According to the study, whaling is a $31 million industry, while environmental groups spend at least $25 million on anti-whaling campaigns and activities. Under a new market scheme such funds could instead go to &#8220;buy&#8221; whales from whalers. Although whaling was banned in 1982, today commercial whaling is conducted by Japan, Norway and Iceland, each of which has found a way to circumvent the moratorium. All told around 1,600 whales are hunted annually by the three nations. Additionally a few hundred whales are hunted by indigenous groups annually. It&#8217;s unclear how attractive such a quota market would be to either environmentalists commercial whalers. For environmentalists the idea would require re-legalizing whaling even in a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/how-much-is-the-life-of-a-whale-worth/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-31472</doi>				</item>
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