Around 500 minke whales are killed every year in Norway – almost half of which are pregnant, making numbers much greater. A new exposé film aims to put that to an end.

“It's hideous, it really is,” begins Peter Carr, Director of Investigations at the Endangered Species Protection Agency (ESPA), explaining how it feels to witness Norwegian whaling first hand. “They’re amazing creatures to be around, coming up to the filming boat, rolling over and trying to communicate.”

“On one occasion, we had one playing right alongside us, gazing up with its captivating eye – then, moments later, it swam over towards a whaling vessel and I remember jumping with the shock as the harpoon went off. They shot that minke whale dead. An animal of such high intelligence, killed because of its curiosity. It’s just so wrong.”

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned commercial whaling through its 1986 global moratorium – yet Norway is one of three nations that object to it, alongside Iceland and Japan. Norway has the highest kill total of all, with the government subsidising the industry to continue – despite increasing national opposition and a decreasing market.

The ESPA recently released its latest documentary,  Harpooned: The Great Whale Betrayal , to expose Norway's quiet slaughter – and ultimately to support the growth of momentum towards an outright ban – in rapid follow-up to the ground-breaking Whale Wash exposé, which won Best Environmental Film at the Cannes Film Awards this year.

“This all came to my attention during Covid, and I was just shocked that it was actually happening,” explains Carr. “I live on the coast in the North East of England and the same minke whales that visit here cross the North Sea into the Norwegian Sea and are facing a grenade-tipped harpoon. So, my primary driver was why?”

Filming whaling up close

The film juxtaposes beautiful footage of minke whale interactions enjoyed by tourists and environmental scientists in the UK with hard-to-watch scenes from Norwegian waters, where whales can be clearly seen suffering on lines shot by harpoons before the onboard processing is shown – literally guts and all – to reveal the true horror of the activity.

Getting so close to the action was both a challenge and a victory and Carr explains: “The Barents Sea is one of the most dangerous waters in the world, the weather is fickle and the coastline is very remote – so if you end up with a problem, you're going to be marooned in a place you don't want to be and it can all go wrong very, very quickly.” 

“The harpoons are grenade tipped, so you've got to be careful of arcs of fire and when such a huge animal is on the end of a line, often wounded and in distress, you don't want to get into the wrong place – so when the whale dives, you have to work out where it's going to come up to avoid it flipping the boat or pushing you into the side of the vessel.”

The team always works in pairs for safety – one whaling vessel once put a bullet into Greenpeace RIB – but Carr says even when they are filming the process up close, aggression is not the norm. “They know we're not activists,” he adds. “We're not trying to stop the hunt; we're just there to record evidence.”

“When a vessel's moving forward, they’re eviscerating the animal, throwing all the guts overboard, and they need to make sure that doesn't get sucked into the engine cooling system. If we get in front, we would be stopping that skipper turning and we would be breaking the rules of the sea – so we stay on the right side of the law and they respect that.”

“Most of our guys are ex-military operators so they've seen a lot a lot of horrific stuff on various tours – but still the effect of being alongside these whalers when they're processing one of these amazing animals is very subdued. There's no high-fiving; everybody's quiet and goes into their own thoughts. I mean, close up, it's a hideous thing to witness.”

Whaling is on borrowed time

The reason the whalers do not oppose the filming is that they see no reason to object. Whaling is a legal, subsidised practice so it is just a commercial decision. “They're doing it on government direction, so really they’re just doing their job,” offers Carr, before explaining the reality behind the effects of their actions.

“The most shocking one is the cruelty,” continues Carr. “The harpoonist is trying to shoot a moving whale from a moving and rolling platform, with a kill zone no bigger than a bin lid. Even from a marksman's perspective, that’s some undertaking. We have seen many whales wounded not killed and it’s clear the data used to justify modern methods is very wrong.

“The second issue is the conflict of interest – the veterinary that has passed the whale grenade-99 design for use on the harpoon actually invented it, so he's getting paid for every grenade sold! The third is that it just doesn't add up. You can work out what meat you would get off all the whales they kill and there’s a huge black hole on where all that whale meat goes.”

Perhaps the most heart-breaking part of all is that in a commercial world where demand and supply should match, there is very little requirement for the meat from these culled animals. Even in Norway, just two percent of residents regularly eat it – and none are under 35. Indeed, most meat went into pet food before a response from the Whale Wash film instigated a ban.

“It is left for the viewer to make their mind up,” continues Carr. “But there's an obvious question: why is this happening?” The answer to that can only be obtained from the Norwegian government – but while ESPA has continually tried to engage them ever since they started filming Whale Wash, they have had no response. 

The regional representative of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, Daniel Caceres, did speak with Norway’s Minister of Climate and Environment, Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, on the topic of whaling at the One Ocean Conference in Bergen last year. He has since watched the film and is hopeful that the Minister will be open to discussion

“After my constructive meetings with Minister Bjelland Eriksen on whaling, I believe this film makes a valuable contribution to the public conversation by highlighting contrasting national approaches to the same species,” he said. “It raises important questions around governance and transparency that merit continued dialogue.”

Carr says that as a nation, Norway has traditionally eschewed outside influence so he believes the only way to make a change is through a swell of public opinion. “I do believe a ban on commercial whaling in Norwegian waters is achievable and the way to achieve that is through education – which is something we do very well,” he concludes.

“We can't be lobbyists, we're educators, but it certainly needs to be picked up. All range states are stakeholders in the North Atlantic minke whale population, so all the governments need to raise this issue. It's the voting populace who will create the effect. If they start questioning it, I am sure we will see a change.

“The industry is on borrowed time and I'm just amazed it's not been totally banned by now. This has gone on under the radar for so long and it is now having a massive impact on Norway's reputation as a country. Brand Norway is getting a lot of dents because of this hideous industry – and they've allowed it to carry on for far too long...”

The need for action

The Norwegian government defends whaling on the basis that the whales ‘eat the Norwegians’ fish’ – but there is no scientific basis for this. Quite the contrary, as Ralph Chami, CEO & co-founder of Blue Green Future and Rebalance Earth and a member of Planetary Guardians, points out.

He explains: “Given that the value of ecosystem services provided by a single living whale over its lifetime is estimated at $2 million, every minke whale killed by Norway represents not only an irreversible ecological loss, but a profound economic one, undermining climate stability, ocean health and long-term prosperity.”

Arksen and 10% for the Ocean is supporting the release as part of a wider commitment to confronting the mistreatment of marine life and understanding the value of a living nature. The film follows catalytic funding of the acclaimed feature  Ocean with David Attenborough  and continues a growing effort to challenge practices that no longer align with science, public values or the urgent need to protect ocean ecosystems.

Jasper Smith, CEO & Founder of Arksen, said: “The Great Whale Betrayal asks a direct question: in an era of ecological crisis and growing understanding of whale intelligence and sentience, why does this industry still exist — and who benefits? I congratulate ESPA for making such an important film and am proud to get behind it to amplify its distribution and support its message as much as possible, with the ultimate goal of putting an end to minke whale hunting.”

Carolina Manhusen, CEO of 10% for the Ocean, added: "Apart from the obvious ethical dilemmas around inflicting immeasurable pain on sentient, intelligent and unarmed beings, whales are critical to the ocean ecosystem and our allies against climate change by being climate buffers locking away carbon over their long lives, and ocean gardeners fertilising the globe with nutrients which shape healthy food webs. 

“We literally need thriving whale populations for the health of our planet. Hunting minke whales is therefore not only unethical and savage it’s a grossly irresponsible act that hinders ocean and planet recovery. I am thankful to all our donors that make it possible for us to support this kind of work and hope more individuals and organisations will take the 10% for the Ocean pledge.”

Arksen and 10% for the Ocean urge the Norwegian population to take interest in the impact its country is having on whale populations. In addition to the slaughter of minke whales around the country’s coastline, Norway's Aker BioMarine catches approximately 65-70% of all Antarctic krill, making a single company responsible for the majority of extraction from what scientists call 'the foundation of the Southern Ocean food web.'

It is literally destroying the foundation of Antarctic ecosystems. Fin whales, for example, are recovering from near-extinction after whaling killed 700,000 individuals but now find themselves with a shortage of food due to competition with industrial trawlers.

Mathematical modelling based on current trends in ocean temperature, sea ice loss and fishing intensity show that Antarctic krill, the keystone species supporting whales and the entire Southern Ocean ecosystem, could functionally disappear within our lifetime. When we lose whales, we lose much more than a species; we lose the life of the ocean itself. 

The question is: will we keep letting Norway get away with it?

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP...

- Watch ESPA’s Harpooned: The Great Whale Betrayal (YouTube), Whale Wash (YouTube) and Ocean with David Attenborough (NatGeo/Disney+, hulu).

- Boycott restaurants in Iceland, Japan and Norway that serve whale meat.

- Check the ingredients of your pet food to ensure there is no whale meat in it.

- Call for a ban on whaling in Iceland, Japan and Norway.

- Ask your government to raise whaling welfare concerns at the next International Whaling Commission meeting.

- Subscribe to 10% for the Ocean through the website  www.10percentfortheocean.org