The Environmental Impacts of Whaling

The History of Whaling

Whale hunting is an integral part of Iceland's culture. Already in the sagas of Iceland's settlement period from 874 AD, marine mammals played a major role in Icelandic society and enabled the islanders to survive the harsh winters. However, there is no proof of whale hunting in the sagas and, given the technical development of the time it also seems unrealistic that the settlers in Iceland would have had the capacity to kill whales as you need large ships and tools for killing, like harpoons. The sagas do tell us though that whales have been used for navigation because they indicated fertile fishing grounds. Moreover, whales were important to the survival of Icelanders because a washed up whale carcass could provide a source of food which even led to conflict among the inhabitants of the island about land division (that is, on which family’s ground does the whale lie?).

The 1800s saw the height of whaling - with countries across the globe participating in the hunting of cetaceans by the thousands. The right whale even received its name because it was considered to be the ‘correct’ whale to hunt - it lives in cold climates, so it moves slowly (an easy target), and it is very fatty (so it was particularly lucrative and it also floated when killed).

Whale oils have been used historically for a number of purposes, with different whales providing different uses to us - regular whale oil, from the blubber of whales such as the right whale and the bowhead whale, was used in lamps, as margarine, and for soap production; sperm oil, made from spermaceti (a fatty substance in the heads of sperm whales), was more expensive, and used for cosmetic production, candle production and industrial lubrication. Ambergris, a waxy substance found in the digestive systems of sperm whales was used as far back as ancient Egyptian times as incense, and later during the industrial revolution when whales were more intensely hunted it was highly valued as a fixative in perfumes (to increase shelf life). Whale oil was not the only part of the whale that humans have found useful historically -

‘whalebone’ - the baleen plates in the mouths of baleen whales, has been used in the fashion industry as it is stiff, but slightly flexible (making it perfect for use in corsetry for example).

Whaling in Iceland and Anti-Whaling Activism

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has forbidden whaling since 1986 but three countries are to this day neglecting these regulations: Japan, Norway and Iceland. In Iceland only one company, Hvalur hf. led by its CEO Kristján Loftsson, still exploits whales for commercial purposes. Currently they hold a quota of 161 fin whales per year which is valid until the end of 2023. It is still to be decided whether Hvalur hf. will obtain a renewed whaling license after 2023. One organisation devoted to the fight against whaling is Sea Shepherd, a global ocean protection organisation which was founded in 1977 and has diligently fought against whalers. In 1986, two Sea Shepherd activists flew to Iceland and sank the whaling ships Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7, and vandalised the processing factory of Hvalur hf. In 2022 the formerly radical environmental activists resumed the battle against Hvalur hf. and launched the campaign “Northern Exposure” which documented the slaughter of fin whales in the fjord of Hvalfjörður and made the cruelty of commercial whale hunting in Iceland visible to the public. Kristján Loftsson has not yet made a statement on whether he intends to continue the hunting of fin whales in the summer of 2023, but one can conclude from his interviews that he does not intend to stop fighting for his right to hunt whales - it was as late as March 2022 when he announced the hunting was to take place that very summer. In response to his statement, the Director of Sea Shepherd Iceland released the following statement:

It is with extreme disappointment and disbelief that we watch the blood sport of a shameless and morally bankrupt man come before the health of Icelandic ecosystems, the rights of endangered species and sentient individuals to their lives, and even the economy of the nation that depends heavily on keeping these whales alive.

Whales’ Essential Role in Underwater Ecosystems

Whales are known as the gardeners of the sea - they are essential for maintaining the underwater ecosystem which our planet relies on. Whale dung acts as an underwater fertiliser, which is necessary for phytoplanktons and krill to thrive (these in turn are consumed by fish and other whales, and thus the cycle continues). Not only are live whales important for the ocean in this vital process, but dead whales, too, play a key role in the food web in our oceans. When a whale dies, it sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor, and this is known as a whale fall - thousands of creatures will then be able to use it as food, and a whale fall can sustain underwater ecosystems for years after the actual death of the whale.

The role of whales in the ocean is twofold then; in the first place, the nutrients they provide to the oceans during their lifetimes, in the form of dung, will assist with the growth of phytoplanktons, which photosynthesise and thus will take in carbon dioxide from our atmosphere, reducing greenhouse gases and global warming. Whilst the second role is similar it is slightly different - with their death, they support ecosystems at depths, and this also prevents carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere in the first place. The act of whaling removes both of these stages from the system, and disrupts the delicate balance of the oceans. Whilst it is shocking that commercial whaling is still permitted to this day by certain countries (such as Iceland), most of the damage has already been done - even if commercial whaling were to stop globally overnight, whales would still face a whole host of threats.

The plastics in our oceans get a vast amount of publicity, with videos going varal showing seals trapped in plastic can rings, straws being pulled from the noses of turtles or whales washing ashore with their stomachs full of plastic bags. However this, too, is not the only issue - global warming and rising sea temperatures have an impact on the food chain, making previously habitable regions of the oceans inhospitable, or forcing animals (both whales as well as their food sources) to move to different areas of the oceans in order to follow the food supply. Additionally, noise pollution caused by industrial shipping, as well as military sonars and deep water mining explosives can cause discomfort, injury or even death for whales, forcing them to move away from the noise and onto land. Boating and fishing accidents are also among the culprits causing whale numbers to reduce significantly - right whale populations may never recover from whaling activities in the 19th and 20th centuries because they have such long and slow life cycles, and even though they are protected from hunting now, they are still being killed through accidental injury faster than they are able to reproduce.

Whales hold a critical role to our ocean’s ecosystems and whilst it seems unrealistic that the global society will soon manage its ocean pollution problem, we can only hope that Iceland and the other two countries that still allow whaling will recognize its harmful effects on the environment.