An Icelandic whale caller is under fire for the horrific accusation that it has kill an endangered blue whale – the first in 40 years .
Sea Shepherd , an outside anti - whaling activist mathematical group , say the companionship Hvalur hf , possess by Icelandic multi - millionaire Kristján Loftsson , had killed the animal during the dark of July 7 , which had since been slaughter to be export to Japan .
“ This piece must be hold back from ruthlessly violating external conservation law and bringing such discredit to the nation of Iceland , ” Captain Paul Watson , founder of Sea Shepherd , say in astatement . “ There can be no legal justification for this crime . ”
Commercial whaling has been banned since 1986 after the International Whaling Commission ( IWC ) make out a globular moratorium . However , in late years Iceland has still allowed its whalers tohunt , letting them becharm hundreds of fin and minke whale . Norway , Japan , and others too have flouted the forbidding .
racy whales , which are listed asendangeredby the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) , have been protected worldwide since 1966 . The last recorded apprehension of a bluish hulk was off the coast of Spain in 1978 .
However , the identity of this whale caught by Hvalur hf remains up for debate . Speaking toCNN , Loftsson said it was either a fin hulk or a hybrid metal money , maybe a uncommon quint - dreary , and not a grim giant .
" We have never caught a blue whale in our waters since they were protected , " he said . " We see them in the sea . When you approach a patrician giant , it ’s so distinct that you leave it alone . "
But experts dissent . Adam Pack from the University of Hawaii at Hilo told CNN the hooked dorsal fin , pointed pectoral fins , and size of the animate being suggested it was a naughty heavyweight . And Dr Philip Clapham from the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center concur .
" While I ca n’t entirely rule out the possibility that this is a loan-blend , I do n’t see any characteristics that would evoke that , ” he toldSea Shepherd . “ From the photos , it has all the characteristics of a blue whale ; return that – notably the coloration pattern – there is almost no possibility that an experient percipient would have misidentified it as anything else at ocean . "
Even if this is not a blue whale , it still highlight the fact that Iceland and other countries continue to function in rebelliousness of outside law . Iceland has now successfully done so since 2006 , and has been exporting hulk meat to Japan since 2008 .
" It is unforgivable . We trust that the Icelandic public give their whaling grouping a hard time about this , ” Nicola Beynon from Humane Society International ( HIS ) toldABC News . “ The barbarous and inhumane practice of commercial-grade whaling does not go in the twenty-first C , it ’s time to give it up . "
Sea Shepherd add to IFLScience that they had ask the Icelandic government to perform a DNA test on the beast , to verify its identity .
