Food and veterinary authority report questions whether hunting large whales can meet animal welfare objectives

Whales have taken as long as two hours to die during Icelandic hunts, according to a report by the Icelandic food and veterinary authority.

A number of the carcasses of the fin whales shot by explosive harpoons during hunts in Iceland last year were examined by the organisation, which found that almost 40% struggled for approximately 11 and a half minutes before they died, while two took more than an hour. A quarter of the fin whales, the second-largest mammal on Earth after the blue whale, considered “vulnerable” globally by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, had to be harpooned a second time. Only 59% died instantly.

The report, described as alarming by Iceland’s minister of food agriculture and fisheries, found the killing of some whales had taken too long. The provisions of the animal welfare act on hunting had not been violated, it found, due to the “best known” methods used by the hunt. But it questioned whether hunting large whales could meet animal welfare objectives and referred its finding to an expert animal welfare council to decide.

Animal welfare campaigners described the findings as intolerable and unacceptable and called on the Icelandic government to halt all whale hunts.

Svandís Svavarsdóttir, Iceland’s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, said: “This alarming report underscores the need for a discussion in Iceland about the values we want to be known for. I believe that industries incapable of guaranteeing animal welfare should be considered part of our past rather than our future. This report, along with the expert council on animal welfare’s findings, will serve as essential background material for making decisions about the future of whaling post 2023.”

Iceland is one of the few countries that hunts whales commercially, along with Norway and Japan, despite a ban on commercial whaling that has been in place since 1986 under the international whaling commission.

However, Svavarsdóttir said last year that the country planned to end whaling from 2024 as demand dwindled. Last August, the ministry issued a regulation requiring the food and veterinary authority (MAST) to carry out regular inspections of whaling hunts, in order to promote animal welfare.

Patrick Ramage, senior director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said: “Whatever their views on whaling, both Icelanders and the international community will be horrified by these findings. No animal – however it is killed – should suffer for such a long time. Whales are sentient, intelligent and complex creatures that suffer both physically and psychologically during this traumatic massacre.”

“There is no humane way to kill a whale at sea. This new evidence underscores how outdated this practice is. It has to end immediately – no one in Iceland is dependent on this meat.”

In Iceland, 148 whales were killed in 2022. The hunting of 58 whales was filmed and analysed by experts on behalf of the food and veterinary authority. It showed, of the 36 whales shot more than once, five whales were shot three times and four whales were shot four times. One whale with a harpoon in its back was chased for five hours without success.

Árni Finnsson, the chair of the Iceland Nature Conservation Association, said: “This killing is inhumane; it has to stop. There is no economic benefit for Iceland and it undermines the country’s record as a pro-conservation nation.”

Danny Groves, a spokesperson for Whale and Dolphin Conservation, said: “We’ve known for a long time that time to death in these hunts can take 20-25 minutes. It will be an agonising death because these are sentient beings. They will experience great pain.

“You’re using a grenade-tipped harpoon from a moving ship to a moving target. This wouldn’t be allowed in a slaughterhouse in the UK.”