The Nordic country, along with Japan and Norway, authorizes the hunting of these animals.
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Iceland, Japan and Norway continue to hunt whales, a family of cetaceans “essential” to the oceans and their biodiversity, which for centuries suffered from culling that decimated its population to the point of near extinction until environmental protests began and a moratorium was signed. succeeded in halting the extermination.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC), meeting in Brighton, UK, signed a moratorium on whaling in 1982, which came into effect three years later and was adhered to by Spain; however, due to legal loopholes in the document, several countries continue to allow their capture.
In the case of Iceland, environmentalists expressed their disagreement with the “unnecessary” decision announced this week by the Icelandic government to allow the hunting of 128 more whales, when there are several endangered species of whales that, according to Greenpeace, have led to the extinction of three million specimens in the last century alone.
Among the most endangered is the Basque or Basque whale (Eubalaena glacialis), so named because it was a staple catch of whalers in northern Spain from at least the 8th century until its near extinction in the early 20th century: only a few hundred specimens now remain.
