Dear friends,
It's sickening. They just shot her with an exploding harpoon,
hacked the foetus out of her, and trashed it. She was just one of 125 endangered fin whales Icelandic millionaire Kristjan Loftsson killed this year.
Fin whales are awe-inspiring -- capable of communicating through song, feeling love and deep emotional suffering.
Loftsson is the last man on the planet still slaughtering these gentle giants for profit – often while they're pregnant.
But finally we can stop him.
Right now,
Iceland's new government is considering ending whaling, but they could face a mountain of backlash from the tycoon and his whaling lobby.
It's up to us to show them the whole world supports a ban!
Sign the petition below, before the government decides:
Tell Iceland: Stop the whale butcher!
Scientists recently discovered
cells in whales' brains that process complex emotions like romance and grief. These were thought to exist only in humans and great apes, but whales have up to three times more of them than humans!
The whalers argue that there are plenty of fin whales around Iceland, but this is a globally endangered and protected species that was nearly hunted to extinction in the past century. And the cruelty is unbearable --
the exploding harpoons cause a slow, painful death.
Millions of tourists flock to Iceland every year for its natural beauty and to watch whales playing in the wild. But
visitors are left in shock when they see one of Loftsson's ships floating in bloody water, hauling a carcass. "Just tell them to look somewhere else. They can just turn around and look the other way," he says. Let’s show him that we won’t turn a blind eye to this massacre!
The government is reviewing Loftsson's license to kill right now.
So we need to move fast! Add your name and share everywhere – when we make it massive, Avaaz will poll the shifting public opinion in Iceland and expose this horror to Iceland’s booming tourist industry:
Tell Iceland: Stop the whale butcher!
Our movement has gone up against Loftsson's fleet before.
When one of his whale meat shipments tried docking in the Netherlands, we pushed
Dutch authorities to close their ports, and then Avaazers in Germany helped
block ports there too! Now we have our best chance to stop his slaughter, for
good.
With hope and determination,
Spyro,
Rewan, Danny, Lisa, Camille, Rosa, Alice and the rest of the Avaaz team
MORE INFORMATION:
Whale foetus dragged "to the trash" after mum is harpooned by whalers
during hunt in Iceland (The Mirror)
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/unborn-whale-foetus-dragged-to-13115394
Meet Iceland’s Whaling Magnate. He Makes No Apologies. (The New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/climate/iceland-whaling.html Whales in love: Like humans, their brains are wired for romance (The Independent)
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/whales-in-love-like-humans-their-brains-are-wired-for-romance-427863.html
An Environmentalist Is Iceland’s New Prime Minister (The New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/world/europe/iceland-prime-minister-katrin-jakobsdottir.html
Iceland’s Captain Ahab runs ships on whale oil (The Times)
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/icelands-captain-ahab-runs-ships-on-whale-oil-cnq3tm7rw75
Iceland sets target of 191 kills as
country resumes whaling (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/18/iceland-sets-target-of-191-kills-as-country-resumes-whaling