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Leigh Henryis senior policy adviser for species preservation and advocacy atWorld Wildlife Fund(WWF ) . She contributed this article to LiveScience’sExpert voice : Op - Ed & Insights .
Two days ago , I visited Laguna San Ignacio in Baja California , Mexico — a wizardly place that is home to the grey-haired whale , one of Earth ’s largest mammals . Most of my time on the piddle during that junket was spend with a grey whale mother and her calf . They approach the boat several times , cede me one of the most awful wildlife encounters of my life .
Aerial view ofBalaenoptera physalus(fin whale) spouting, Sea of Cortez, Mexico. General restrictions apply; One-Time Use Only.
Meanwhile , far away in the amniotic fluid of the northerly Atlantic , whalesare not receive such a welcome receipt . commercial-grade whaling vessel are hunting endangered fin whales for their meat at an alarming pace — despite a global prohibition by the International Whaling Commission . Hvalur , the Icelandic commercial whaling company , recently take up its commercial-grade hunt of endangered fin whales after a two - year abatement . Between June 1 and Aug. 19 of this yr , 100 tailfin whales have been butcher . Hvalur has exported G of tons of whale meat annually to Japan , and John Vidal , report for the Guardian , found that Hvalur stamp out 148 endangered fin whales to fertilize that trade in 2010 alone .
In 2011 , however , successivenatural disastersin Japan halted Icelandic commercial-grade louvre whaling for a while by disrupting demand for the product . But as Japan ’s saving easy amend ( and continues to better ) , so does the market for fin - whale meat , ply Iceland with an economical incentive to continue this practice .
If the hunt does not stop , Icelandic whalers will likely belt down as many as 180 V whales this year . Without intervention , commercial whaling — mate with other threats , like sea noise and ship smasher — could push fin whales beyond the degree of recovery .
Aerial view ofBalaenoptera physalus(fin whale) spouting, Sea of Cortez, Mexico. General restrictions apply; One-Time Use Only.
It ’s hard to consider the going of this majestic coinage at the hand of human race when , ultimately , we have the power to blockade it .
With quint whales on theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature ’s Red List as an endanger species , Iceland ’s commercial-grade whaling has drawn outside attention . In 2010 , WWF worked with a coalition of nongovernmental organizations to further the U.S. government to address Iceland ’s intrusion of external whaling and trade bans .
In 2011 , the U.S. Department of Commerce encounter Iceland was undermining thecommercial - whalingban . In response , President Barack Obama enforce diplomatical sanctions , with a hope to revisit the result if Iceland resumed its hunt of fin whale . Now , Hvalur has done just that , in clamorous neglect of U.S. and international requests .
Balaenoptera physalus(fin whale) viewed underwater in the Ligurian Sea, 40 miles off the coast of Monaco. General restrictions apply; One-Time Use Only.
It is time for Obama to take decisive activity and impose economic authorization that bring Iceland ’s whaling to an effective freeze . Anything short of this will fail to alter Iceland ’s course of action — and fail to foreclose the ongoing killing of endangered fin whales .
OnWWF ’s website , you may learn how to help protect these majestic mammals .
The view express are those of the source and do not needfully reflect the view of the publishing company . This article was earlier published onLiveScience .
