Sea Shepherd Launches Iceland Whale Defense Campaign Operation Ragnarök 2007
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is launching its campaign to go after Iceland’s illegal commercial whaling operations. The society will send its ship Farley Mowat to Iceland to intervene and disrupt their illegal whaling activities and focus the world’s attention on Iceland’s planned illegal killing of 60 piked (Minke) and 9 endangered fin whales.
After a 20 year absence, Iceland has returned to commercial whaling — in flagrant violation of the International Whaling Commission’s moratorium on the commercial slaughter of whales. They also intend to export the butchered whale meat to other countries in direct violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
“Sea Shepherd has an ongoing commitment to end whaling worldwide and we will not rest until this goal is accomplished,” said Captain Paul Watson, president and founder of Sea Shepherd. “From the bottom of the planet in the Antarctic, to the North Atlantic, wherever continued violations of the global moratorium on commercial whaling take place, Sea Shepherd will be fighting for the whales.” Sea Shepherd is the most aggressive non-governmental organization in the world with campaigns on the high seas for three decades intervening against illegal activities that exploit marine wildlife and habitats.