Iceland kills first whales since 2023, resuming whaling

Two whales were killed off the coast of Iceland overnight Sunday, two days after commercial hunting resumed, local media and animal rights activists reported Monday.The kill ends a two-year pause and marks the first catches since 2023.Icelandic public broadcaster RUV reported that two fin whales were killed. The fin whale is the second largest animal on Earth after the blue whale.Before the vessels set off on Friday, a protester had attached himself to one of the masts in the port of Reykjavik, but climbed down and was escorted away by police.Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only three countries that still openly permit whaling, despite international condemnation from the public and animal welfare organisations.Iceland cancelled its whale hunt over the past two years, partly because economic problems had cut demand and the industry was not deemed profitable enough."The first fin whale deaths in Iceland's hunt this year are devastating," said Joanna Swabe, European senior public affairs director for animal rights group Humane World for Animals."Iceland has killed more than 1,000 fin whales in the past two decades -- not only the second largest animal on the planet but also a species classified as globally vulnerable to extinction," Swabe said in a statement.Iceland's government has said it is planning to introduce a bill aimed at banning whaling this autumn.The International Whaling Commission banned the commercial killing of whales in 1986 amid alarm at the declining stock of the marine mammals.Iceland's Marine and Freshwater Research Institute has recommended that no more than 150 fin whales are caught in the 2026 season.That represents a 28-percent drop on the annual quota it recommended for the period 2018–2025, it said.The institute has set an annual catch of 168 animals for the minke whale hunt this year, a 23-percent drop on 2018-2025.