Can any Icelanders explain the point of this to me?
No we can not. This is fucked up. It’s one rich guy’s hobby:
Im Icelandic and I can confirm this. This massive asshole (Kristjan Loftson) has plenty of money and one hobby, killing whales. He as lost aprox. 20m€ on whaling in the years he has been hunting them.
…kill him?
I mean, or watch hundreds, thousands of whales die.
Just one dude, man. I dunno, not Icelandic so it isn’t really an opportunity I’d have but, um. If all else fails, right?
He will probably kill 10-20 finback whales so we are not talking about very large numbers. Also it would not be good for Icelandic politics if someone would kill him, he could become somekind if whale killer martyr and Iceland would continue to kill whales after his death.
he could become somekind if whale killer martyr
Well that’s just as easily solved by more killing. There can’t be more than like 20 people in the country that have a massive boner for murdering whales.
The killing will continue until morale improves
The rise of far right politicians and fascists is directly related to the dramatic drop in assassinations of political figures.
The solution? Start murdering fascist and far right politicians that exploit the working class and the environment to add to their already endless coffers. This is the only viable answer.
Change my mind.
Would it be more whales? Less?
There’s a minimum whale population before genetic defects start having impact between mates…
I’m not advocating direct violence, but mixing sand into the hunting boat’s engine oil and other more peaceful methods should be considered if the government won’t listen to reason by its people.
Then you kill the next figurehead for whaling. Eventually, they’ll get the point.
let the whales decide his fate
Then someone should kill them for their stupidity. Cancer doesn’t go away unless you cut it all out.
If he’s doing this for profit, there has to be a consumer… Who are the consumers and what are they buying?
Sadly, there is whale meat in our supermarkets and restaurants. The only reason they can sell it is because some of the whale is “necessary” for “research”, and the meat is a “byproduct”.
What kind of research necessitates killing whales??
Research of the taste of whale meat
Why are you government or judges so shady when it comes to this? Like, what is the actual reasson, that this is not forbidden and nobody is in jail? You have a democracy in iceland, right?
Amazing that such sweeping devastation can be tracked back to one piece of shit.
I’m not Icelandic nor am I a lawyer, but i bet he would stop if his car were harpooned enough times.
I’m pretty sure he would stop if he were harpooned once. Harpoons don’t just grow on trees y’know, gotta be thrifty.
So it’s not some indigenous thing like in the Americas and is just pure evil capitalism? Ugh!
Yup, we don’t even eat whale, only tourists do because they think it’s part of our culture.
And here is the asshole making a whole nation look bad yet again;
I’m not from Iceland, but $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
Fuck these guys.
How many battery chickens do you need to unalive to feed the same number of people as one minke whale?
Chickens aren’t at risk of extinction due to human consumption.
We don’t have whale ranches.
I don’t believe Minke whales are endangered either.
They aren’t. “Least concern”
Which would be great if they were hunting Minke whales, but they’re hunting fin whales, which are endangered.
Farming livestock is industrialised animal cruelty. Animals are kept in squalid conditions. Whales have a good life followed by a quick death (unless it dies in the Faroe Islands). Dynamite tipped harpoon will get the job done right.
Billions of living things forced to experience short brutal painful existences inside of concentration camps
Maybe don’t eat either.
Oh I eat all animals! I just don’t like hypocrisy.
What makes you assume the person you replied to is a “hypocrite” (i.e. eats factory chicken)?
Most people do.
I’ve only heard about perfumes that once contained whale juices? …What do these whales produce in terms of raw and or commercial material. or is it for sport these days? not that any of it is okay.
Yes this they used to use wheel spinal fluid as a base for perfumes. Because of course they did.
I think that practise was banned years ago mostly because it isn’t remotely sustainable.
Iceland has this weird thing about wailing. You see all these whaling ships right alongside whale tour boats. It’s like they sort of get it but can’t quite get over the culture of whale hunting.
Which in fairness is part of their culture but they have a Costco there now as well so…
spinal fluid as a base for perfumes
I can’t find any evidence of that. Are you perhaps thinking of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris made from stones in the whale digestive system?
Meat. Whale is tasty. Yum yum yummy in my tum tum tummy. Not even joking. People like whale. It’s a very versatile and lean meat which is very high in omega 3, iron and protein… And mercury but never mind that. Just try it next time you’re in a country that hunts them.
Actually, don’t try it. Just encourages hunting.
Unless you are a full vegan, you have no business condemning responsible whaling.
Sanction them. I love Iceland but the way I see it, sanction them and tell them to knock it off. Capitalism sucks but use whatever few means we have in that system to at least right some wrongs.
You gonna demand sanctions for every single country that hunts a wild species that’s classified as “least concern”? I think you’ll struggle to find any countries that don’t pull shit that’s at least as inhumane and environmentally harmful as killing some 100-150 whales per year.
Who cares if the whales die horribly and the species goes extinct, right? Oh yeah, new “regulations” make it “good” to do the same shit somehow, so no problem.
it’s never about the planet. it’s never about life on earth
it’s always about “the economy”
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Nice one Iceland
I heard that India is allowing people to wack moneys over the head real good now. It used to be that you couldn’t hit them little fellers. Not the cows though. You can’t even eat their brain through a small straw like you are told to do to monkeys in some areas of Asia. Regardless, vegans like me can’t get into the action. We just massacred a bag of pistachios and that’s about as far as we go.
Did we learn nothing from Star Trek 4?
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Know why they’re called right whales? It’s because they’re the right ones to hunt.
