ANIMAL rights activists have staged a protest outside an embassy in an attempt to bring an end to minke whaling.
The Norwegian embassy in Seoul, South Korea, was the focus of anti-whaling campaigners who make the fake claim that the minke is an endangered species.
April is the beginning of the minke whaling season and Norway strongly disputes claims the minke is endangered pointing to official figures estimating there are 100,000 in its coastal waters.
But members of the coalition comprising the Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth, the Korean Animal Welfare Association and the Hotpink Dolphins staged the protest in front of the Norwegian Embassy in Seoul on April 5.
The protest came after Norway’s six-month whaling season began with a quota of 999 – up by 119 on last year’s quota of 999.
The coalition claimed the 100,000 whales off Norway’s coast also included whales returning from North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean and that the actual population was lower.
A spokesman said: “The number of the animal includes that of minke whales returning to the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean in spring.
“That many minke whales do not inhabit waters off Norway all the time.
“Ninety percent of those whales slaughtered by Norway every year are female and most of them are pregnant.”
In fact whaling is a shrinking industry as a result of declining demand and the retirement of whalers.
International Whaling Commission figures show about 140,000 minke whales have been hunted in the North Atlantic since the 1940s, 120,000 of which were killed by Norway.
