Friday, June 25, 2010

Animal activists challenged on whale film 'scam'

Norwegian animal welfare organisations have been accused of misleading the public over the "cruelty" of whaling.

Activists recently released a video that they said showed a harpooned whale possibly taking two hours to die.

At the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting, the Norwegian delegation said the footage had been packaged in a way as to "misrepresent the facts".

The campaigners, who rejected the allegations, say they were considering their options on how to respond.

The film was shot in May in the Lofoten Islands off the northwestern coast of Norway, the heart of the nation's whaling industry.

Disputed footage

Most hunting is carried out in coastal waters by adapted fishing vessels, so campaigners were able to film from the shore.

The video reportedly shows a boat firing an explosive harpoon at a minke whale, which the video's commentary says occurred at 9.15pm local time.

The harpoon appears to land short of its target; but narrator Carl-Egil Mastad, director of the Norwegian Society for the Protection of Animals, says: "For the next 22 minutes we filmed the whaling vessel apparently pursuing the injured whale".

The boat then disappeared from sight behind a headland; but later, the film crew - the narrative adds - found it again.

"Then at 11.30(pm), we filmed the [boat] firing a second harpoon shot, resulting in a clear kill," Mr Mastad says in his commentary.

"It is possible that this was the same animal which had been struck earlier, meaning it suffered from horrific harpoon injuries for more than two hours before dying."

 

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