In 1999 Norway and Japan killed over 1,000 whales. In 2000 they killed even more. Whaling is cruel. An exploding harpoon is fired into the whale's body. Sometimes more than one harpoon is needed, and the whale can be shot many times with a rifle, even electrocuted, to finish it off.
Some whales suffer for several minutes, even up to one hour, before dying.
Under a compromise deal being discussed at the IWC,the whaling ban could be lifted altogether condemning countless thousands more whales to a cruel death. Japanese whalers will kill hundreds more whales for so-called 'scientific research'. With whale meat fetching anything up to 200 per pound in Japan, massive profits are made from killing whales. Norway resumed full-scale commercial whaling in 1993. Norway's whalers want to hunt endangered fin, humpback and sperm whales and re-open the whale meat trade with Japan.