Dear friend

Shockingly, the Icelandic Government is planning its biggest whale hunt in the North Atlantic for over twenty years. This summer they will target over 200 whales, including 150 endangered fin whales.

We need your help to persuade the new Icelandic Government that making a quick profit by killing these whales is short-sighted and wrong. It defies the ban on commercial whaling and could damage both Iceland’s international reputation and its valuable whale watching industry as tourists reject the previously popular holiday destination. Please join our campaign by sending an e-mail to the Icelandic Government today.

Meanwhile, countries from around the world are preparing for a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Rome this March, to discuss the future of one of the world’s most important conservation victories, the ban on commercial whaling.

For years, Japan has side-stepped the commercial whaling ban, by claiming its increasing whale hunts are for scientific purposes. Now, its bad behaviour may be rewarded by the IWC with legal commercial whaling sanctioned in its coastal waters in return for an unspecified and unenforceable reduction in its scientific hunt in Antarctica. The deal, which does nothing to prevent scientific whaling from expanding out of control, puts the whaling ban and the world's whales under grave threat.

WDCS will attend the IWC meeting to persuade countries that this deal won't work. We will press for action not only against Japan’s so-called ‘scientific whaling’ but also Iceland and Norway’s increasing hunts.

Please support our campaign by joining us for this year's Save the Whale Week. The money you raise will help us pay for vital lobbying, legal and scientific work to protect whales.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sue Fisher
WDCS Whaling Campaigner