As we quarantine, we also celebrate International Day for Biological Diversity. This global event, held every year on May 22nd, was established by the United Nations to promote and raise global awareness of issues related to the planet’s biodiversity.
Despite an international ban on commercial whaling since 1986, the animals are still being hunted and killed across the world’s oceans, with devastating impacts on global populations.
Iceland’s only fin whaling company Hvalur hf is set to resume its controversial hunt of endangered fin whales after a two-year break. Its 2018 whaling season will open on June 10th with the highest quotas in decades.
Endangered fin whales can breathe a huge sigh of relief: the director of Iceland's only fin whaling company said that his fleet would not hunt fin whales again this year because of difficulties exporting the whale meat to Japan.