The Soviet Union was a latecomer to industrial whaling, but it slaughtered whales by the thousands once it started and radically under-reported its take to international monitors.
Australia is considering removing humpback whales from the threatened species list after their numbers rebounded in recent decades. But the mammals face new threats.
Icelandic whalers have killed more than 1,700 whales since a global ban was adopted in 1986 – up to 2019, when no hunts took place. Is Iceland quietly getting out of the business?
Etchings over much earlier Aboriginal engravings show foreign whalers made contact with Australia’s remote northwest long before colonial settlement of the area.
Increased tourism in Iceland is bringing more attention to controversial practices such as commercial whaling and consumption of whale meat.
ELDING/AAP
Iceland is set to resume commercial whaling in June after a two-year hiatus, arguing that the moratorium put in place by the international community was never intended to be an open-ended ban.
Navin75/Flickr, Australian Marine Conservation Society, ANU
In this episode of Change Agents, Andrew Dodd speaks with Darren Kindleysides and Don Rothwell on how Australia won a case against Japan's whaling activities at the International Court of Justice.
A photo from Sea Shepherd allegedly shows a Japanese whaling vessel with a dead minke whale on board.
EPA/GLENN LOCKITCH / SEA SHEPHERD HANDOUT
Japan’s fleet is on its way to the Southern Ocean for more “scientific” whaling. But a new resolution pointing out the importance of whale poo could help remove Japan’s rationale for lethal research.
Japan’s previous scientific whaling program was shut down. But its new one may not be.
EPA/Tim Watters/Sea Shepherd Australia
Australia’s new resolution will apply stricter monitoring to the special permits that allow some nations to continue whaling. But the new rules are non-binding, meaning countries are free to ignore them.
Ecological sustainability is at the core of Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
EPA/BARBARA WALTON
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s proposed changes to Australia’s national environment act will significantly reduce judicial oversight on environmental decisions. Here’s why that matters.
DNA analysis reveals that there are three populations of Antarctic blue whales.
Paula Olson, courtesy of IWC
Antarctica’s blue whales all feed in the same place. But a new genetic analysis suggests they are actually three separate populations that breed in different parts of the globe.
Politics podcast: Sarah Hanson-Young on the plight of Abyan.
In this interview, Sarah Hanson-Young calls on the government to appoint an independent advocate to protect the interests of the Somali woman known as "Abyan", who is being held on Nauru.
Japan’s scientific research program, JARPA II, was found contrary to international law in 2014.
EPA/Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert