Icelandic Whaler: “Slow News Period” To Blame For Coverage Of Rare Whale Kill

Kristján Loftsson, the director of Iceland’s sole fin whale hunting company, Hvalur hf., gave a very candid interview with Icelandic public broadcasting on their most recent kill.

As reported, Hvalur hf. landed a whale last weekend that many believe to be a blue whale, while an Icelandic biologist believes it might be an even more rare fin-blue hybrid. The kill has garnered international attention, not least of all on Hvalur’s director, Kristján Loftsson, who spoke with RÚV about the matter.

Kristján says he is convinced that the creature in question is a hybrid, insisting that his crew would never deliberately hunt a blue whale. He also takes issue with the fact that the hunt has received any press attention at all.

“There is of course some kind of slow news period going on and this is being presented by the ‘anti-crowd’ in the worst possible light,” he said, adding that he has already spoken with many British media outlets about the kill.

As always, Kristján says there is a market for the whale meat in Japan, with the biggest obstacle being Japanese bureaucracy — a contention which contradicts most recent trends, which indicate that the Japanese market for whale meat is on its way out.

DNA testing on the animal will be conducted by the Marine And Freshwater Research Institute of Iceland, although no exact date has been set on when that testing will happen.