WHAT WE ACHIEVE
Harpooned Film
The end of another summer minke whale hunting season in Norway – with 428/29 killed by harpoons loaded with grenades – has led to fresh calls for a worldwide ban.
Our latest documentary films the “barbaric” hunting operation in the Norwegian fjords. Many of the annually-returning whales seen in the waters around Mull and Skye by nature lovers could be butchered as they swim back the short distance from UK to Norwegian waters every year.
Norwegians should follow the example of virtually every other coastal nation by moving from hunting the massive creatures to watching them as part of an ever-expanding and lucrative tourist industry.
After releasing further graphic images of minkes suffering in Norwegian waters when the grenade-tipped harpoons fail to kill them instantly as planned, ESPA has been joined by environmental and whale watching groups in calling on the Norwegian government to ban hunting in their waters.
The documentary
Our latest film Harpooned: The Great Whale Betrayal contrasts the huge affection shown to annual UK returners such as Knobble and Snowy, who are filmed and photographed by thousands of nature lovers, with the savage killing of whales by Norwegian hunters just a few hundred miles away.
Our previous award-winning film Whale Wash: The Forgotten Whale, which also caught graphic images of minkes being harpooned and then butchered on board a handful of Norwegian boats, questioned the economic viability of an industry that kills around 500 whales every year.
What we uncovered
We found that whale meat for food production is largely confined to Norway because it cannot be traded internationally unless countries have an exemption, while even there it is a niche product which begs the question about why it is allowed.
We also detailed how some whale meat is made into dog food, which is not supposed to happen, and took issue with hunt supporters who say the grenade harpoons are a more humane way of killing the minkes.
The impact
Harpooned talks to members of The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, who have been tracking the movements of minkes in Scottish waters such as Knobble, who has been returning there for the last 24 years, and regular Skye whale watchers like Anthony Rigell and Shona McGuiggan.
Those Hebridean-based whale lovers are perplexed that the hugely popular and much-filmed minkes could easily become harpooned if they head into nearby Norwegian waters.
“It feels pretty upsetting that here people love these whales yet in seas nearby they’re being hunted and killed – it’s heartbreaking,” said Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust Conservation Manager, Dr Lauren Hartny-Mills.
Veteran 79-year-old Hebridean whale watcher Andy Tait is similarly distraught. “It would be absolutely sickening to see Knobble end up on a slab in Norway somewhere,” he said.
Outcomes
ESPA Chief Executive Harry Taylor says most of the public would be appalled if they knew that harpooning is still taking place.
“For a country that is uber smart, do they really want to be supporting something like this?” he said.
ESPA also says there is clear conflict of interest at play as the vet advising the Norwegian government also produced and has the patent for the grenade that goes into the whale-killing harpoons!
Only an outright ban will bring an end to a barbaric practice, says ESPA – and the sooner that happens the sooner there will be end to the senseless killing of around 500 minke whales every year.
