FIELD NOTES — Iceland Started Whaling Again. It's 2024. Here's What That Means.

A case study in the things we choose not to look at.

In 2023 Iceland resumed commercial whaling after a two year pause. The pause had given some people hope that Iceland might follow the global trend toward ending commercial whaling entirely. It didn't.

Iceland is one of three countries — alongside Norway and Japan — that continues commercial whaling in defiance of the International Whaling Commission's 1986 moratorium. Iceland does so under an official objection to the moratorium, a legal loophole that allows member nations to exempt themselves from specific rulings they disagree with.

The whales being hunted are primarily fin whales — the second largest animal on earth, listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. In recent seasons Icelandic whalers have also hunted minke whales, a smaller species that is more abundant but still protected under the moratorium.

The arguments for continuing are mostly economic and cultural. Whaling has been part of Icelandic life for centuries. The industry provides jobs. Whale meat is sold domestically and exported primarily to Japan. These are real arguments made by real people with real stakes in the outcome.

The arguments against are also real. Fin whales are still recovering from the commercial whaling of the 19th and 20th centuries that reduced their global population by an estimated 70%. The science on whale cognition has advanced significantly — we now know that whales communicate in complex ways, form long term social bonds, and demonstrate behaviors that suggest a level of awareness we are only beginning to understand. The bowhead whale can live over 200 years. We are killing animals that may have been alive when whaling began.

There is also the question of what whaling costs Iceland in terms of international reputation. Whale watching is now one of Iceland's most significant tourism industries. The same waters where fin whales are hunted are also where tourists pay to watch them. These two things exist simultaneously and uncomfortably.

IceWhale — the Icelandic whale watching association — has been vocal about the conflict between whaling and whale watching, both economically and ethically. They are doing work worth supporting.

Iceland is a country of extraordinary natural beauty and environmental consciousness in many respects. Its relationship with whaling is a contradiction that hasn't been resolved yet. Paying attention to that contradiction seems like the least we can do.

Support your local whale.