Birmingham Sea Life Centre campaigning against whale hunting in Greenland

• Mar. 7 by Aneesa Malik (1)

The Birmingham Sea Life Centre is supporting a bid by the Whale and Conservation Society to stop a law in Greenland that allows the slaughtering of humpback.

The marine centre has set up a petition on their website in an attempt to get this law banned and has leaflets about the bid within the centre.

Andy Simmons from the Birmingham branch stated:

‘It is vital we preserve these great animals, and I hope more people will see the importance of signing this petition.

For us, but more importantly for the next generations.’

Sea Life Centres all across the country have been writing letters to environment ministers throughout Europe, urging them to condemn this, in effect, act of extinction.

Once hunted to the brink of extinction, the humpback has made a dramatic comeback in the North Pacific.

A 2008 study estimated that the humpback population hit a low of 1,500 whales before hunting was banned worldwide.

According to a study by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service in 2009, there are approximately 30,000 humpback whales left in the oceans.

However if whalers continue to hunt these mammals, extinction is more than likely to re-emerge.

The people of Greenland have justified their position by arguing that their whaling is aboriginal by being an important tradition amongst this indigenous group, which needs to be taken into consideration.