April 29, 2023

I have been receiving criticisms from some of my former colleagues at Sea Shepherd that it will be counter-productive for us to confront Icelandic whalers this summer. Their argument is that Iceland intends to not renew permits for Kristján Loftsson in 2024 and Icelandic whaling will be ended after this year. They are also saying that engaging in a campaign in Iceland will cause them problems with the government partnerships they have developed in African nations. The other argument is that our campaign will invoke nationalism in Iceland that will cause Icelanders to support whaling and that change needs to come from within Iceland itself and not from foreigners.

I reject all of these arguments.

First, the Icelandic government has not confirmed that they will cancel the permits in 2024.

Secondly, Kristján Loftsson himself said that he will continue to kill whales as long as he has a market for whale meat and that market is Japan with a small percentage going to feed tourists in Icelandic restaurants along with a side of puffin. Loftsson this year has refitted and repainted his two whaling ships. Why would he spend that much money on these two ships if this was the final season? Loftsson is one of the wealthiest persons in Iceland with a great deal of influence with the government which means that what Loftsson wants, he usually gets.

This campaign is not against the Icelandic government or against the Icelandic people. It is a campaign to stop Kristján Loftsson, this 80 years old modern-day equivalent of Captain Ahab. The man has murdered whales all his life, has killed tens of thousands of whales and takes both pride and joy in doing so, and has said so himself.

The majority of Icelanders are opposed to whaling and they have seen that whale watching brings in more revenue to the Icelandic government from tourist dollars than from one man enriching himself at the expenses of international condemnation from most of the world.

In 2019, I sent a Sea Shepherd ship to Iceland to oppose whaling. In doing so I was criticized by Peter Hammarstedt and others. Their argument, according to Hammarstedt, was that it would tarnish the Sea Shepherd “brand’”. The Global Board refused to allow me to send one of the larger ships, so I sent the Sea Shepherd US vessel Brigitte Bardot instead. Upon arrival, the Icelandic whale hunt for 2019 was cancelled. Instead of applauding me for that success, I was removed from the U.S. Board of Directors and Peter Hammarstedt was hired to replace me as campaign coordinator for Sea Shepherd USA. This left only Sea Shepherd UK to carry on opposition to whaling in Iceland and to oppose the killing of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands. 

Hammarstedt also oversaw the cessation of net confiscation in the Vaquita Refuge in Mexico.

My critics seem to be forgetting that the killing of endangered Fin whales is illegal under International Conservation Law, and Sea Shepherd was established to uphold international conservation law. Since 1986, there has been a global moratorium on commercial whaling as ruled by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). This means that the permits given to Loftsson have never been valid. In 1986 after we sank half of Loftsson’s whaling fleet by scuttling two of his ships in Reykjavik Harbor, we were never charged even when I went to Iceland in January 1988 to demand charges. Iceland knew then, as they also know now, that to charge me and to put me on trial would be to put Iceland on trial in the international court of public opinion. They simply cannot legally justify their illegal whaling activities.

If by chance they manage to seize me this summer, I fully intend to take advantage of the situation in the Icelandic courts and if they extradite me to Japan, I will take the issue to the Japanese courts. I have taken risks to protect whales since 1975, almost a half a century and I have no intention of retiring to watch whales die. My lifelong ambition has been and continues to be, the complete eradication of the evil perversion of killing whales and dolphins.

I reject the argument that leaving them alone will cause whaling to end. We have taken that stance with the Canadian seal hunt. We have not interfered with the slaughter of seals since 2008 and yet they continue to brutalize and destroy tens of thousands of young seals every year and Canada continues to subsidize the killers. Perhaps it’s time we return to the Canadian sealing grounds to remind Canada that we still care.

Finally, Loftsson wants to target up to 169 endangered Fin whales this summer. 169 precious lives! These incredibly intelligent, socially complex, self-aware sentient beings will be illegally mutilated, tortured and slain by Loftsson’s minions. Are we expected to stand by and allow this vicious serial killing of cetaceans because Iceland may or may not revoke Loftsson’s invalid permits?

I don’t think so. Every whale is a living treasure that does not belong to Loftsson. He has no right to take their lives and we have every right to do what we can to save their lives.

To put this Icelandic whale slaughter in perspective it must be said that Loftsson’s whaling company represents 19% of all whales being killed every year on the planet. Japan is killing 303 whales, Norway is killing 577. Although Norway is the largest killer of whales, the Icelandic slaughter represents 100% of endangered Fin whales killed. This makes Iceland the priority for us this summer.

Sea Shepherd US and Sea Shepherd Global may no longer care about saving whales, but as the founder of Sea Shepherd, I do care. They may no longer wish to take the risks of defending whales and dolphins, but I intend to continue to take the risks required to save their lives.

I once asked my crew this one question. Are you prepared to risk your life to protect and defend whales? This question is not asked anymore on Sea Shepherd ships. The people I want to sail with me must be willing to risk their life and their freedom to defend and protect whales and dolphins.

The critics be damned, we sail for the waters between Iceland and Greenland at the end of May 2023 and we intend to stand fast and to stand strong for the whales of the North Atlantic.