I am so tired. Not because of the long day or the sort of late hour, but because the Icelandic fisheries ministry issued a permit to hunt 39 whales for commercial purposes. It is. Just. So. Frustrating. Why do they do this? You tell me, there is not even a market for it!

I was in Iceland a couple of years ago, where the old whaling ships, the Hvalur fleet, lies in the port of Reykjavik as rusty relics of old times. Across the jetty was a whale watching boat. It was just so obvious: whaling is something of the past! And still here we are… boy was I stupid.

Andrew posted the story here

And hey: sign the pledge will you please? We're never giving up, but for now I'll just go home and… mope.

Archive photo: Hvalfjörður whaling station in Iceland. Seagulls feeding on the carcass of a fin whale. © Greenpeace / Reeve

Iceland has granted a commercial license to hunt 39 whales - nine of which are endangered fin whales. There's no economic reason behind this - a recent poll by IFAW shows that just 1.1 % of Icelanders eat whale meat once a week or more, while 82.4% of 16 to 24-year-olds never eat whale meat. Read more about the IFAW poll »

The Pledge:

“I would seriously consider taking a vacation in Iceland rather than somewhere else if the Government of Iceland stopped whaling. I would be willing to receive an email about the options available for Icelandic tourism, an email that would be sent to me if the Government of Iceland ends its whaling program.” Take the pledge: Tell the Icelandic government that you opposewhaling