A NEW WHALING WAR IN ICELAND: POLICE DETAIN CREW OF ACTIVIST VESSEL
- Roman Pech
- před 3 dny
- Minut čtení: 7
The Icelandic Coast Guard and special police units intervened against the vessel Bandero, which was attempting to disrupt this year’s whale hunt. All 21 members of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation crew ended up in the hands of Icelandic authorities.
The confrontation between Icelandic whalers and opponents of commercial whaling reached a dramatic climax at sea this year. The Icelandic Coast Guard and the police special forces unit Viking Squad intervened against Bandero, operated by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation. During the operation, the vessel’s crew attempted to track and disrupt the activities of the whaling ship Hvalur 9.
According to the Icelandic Coast Guard, the crew of Hvalur 9 requested assistance because they felt threatened. The Coast Guard subsequently ordered Bandero to leave Icelandic waters. When the captain, according to the authorities, failed to comply with the order and later refused to stop the vessel’s engines, special forces intervened. Around midnight, police and Coast Guard officers boarded Bandero and took control of the vessel. All 21 crew members were detained. Paul Watson was not on board.
Bandero was subsequently taken to Reykjavík. According to information published by the Associated Press, Icelandic police took over the investigation, while authorities considered deporting members of the crew and banning them from returning to Iceland.
Operation 86 was designed to stop the whalers
Bandero arrived in Iceland as part of Operation 86, a campaign launched by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation as a direct action against the resumption of commercial whaling.
The name of the operation refers to 1986, when the international moratorium on commercial whaling came into effect. That same year saw one of the best-known incidents in the history of environmental activism in Iceland: the whaling vessels Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7 were sunk in Reykjavík harbour, while whaling facilities in Hvalfjörður were damaged. The Foundation presents Operation 86 as a continuation of this long-running conflict.
For this year’s mission, the organization set itself a clear goal: to prevent Hvalur from hunting whales.
The Foundation claims that Bandero was closely monitored by Icelandic authorities throughout the operation. According to its own account, the vessel was monitored by aircraft, helicopters, drones and patrol vessels. The Bandero crew was also required to report its position every hour and continuously transmit an AIS signal. The Foundation further claims that whaling vessels could switch off their AIS during hunts.
The organization also says that the presence of Bandero forced the Hvalur fleet to repeatedly change its hunting grounds.
“The vessel may be detained, but the mission continues”
Following the detention of the crew, the Foundation immediately issued its own response.
In its official statement, it confirmed that Bandero had been seized by the Icelandic Coast Guard and that the entire crew had been detained. The organization said it was working to secure their release and would publish further information as soon as it had been confirmed.
Paul Watson responded even more forcefully on social media. In a post published on August 19, the Foundation wrote:
“Ships are expendable. Whales are not.”
The Foundation also stated that although Bandero had been detained, its mission remained unchanged.
On social media, the Foundation has also emphasized that, in its view, the detention of Bandero did not mark the end of the operation. The organization says its goal was not simply to physically reach the whaling vessel, but also to document this year’s hunt and draw attention to alleged violations of Icelandic regulations.
Profile: PAUL WATSON
Born: December 2, 1950, Toronto, Canada
Profession: Environmental activist, marine conservationist, captain and author
Known for: Co-founding Greenpeace and founding the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Sea Shepherd: Founded in 1977 after leaving Greenpeace
Captain Paul Watson Foundation: Founded in 2022
Main focus: Protection of whales and other marine wildlife, opposition to poaching and commercial whaling
Methods: Direct action and intervention against activities the organization considers illegal or harmful to marine life
CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON FOUNDATION
The Foundation was established in 2022 after Watson left Sea Shepherd. It focuses on protecting the oceans and marine wildlife through direct action and education. In 2026, one of its main campaigns is Operation 86, which aims to prevent the resumption of commercial whaling in Iceland.
Why is Watson controversial?
His style of activism is based on direct interventions against hunters and other operators he considers a threat to marine wildlife. These confrontational methods have brought him international attention, but have also resulted in criticism and legal problems.
The Foundation claims it documented violations
This part of the story could prove more important for future developments than the detention itself.
The Captain Paul Watson Foundation says its land-based team monitored Hvalur’s activities during the season and submitted evidence of alleged violations to Iceland’s Food and Veterinary Authority, MAST. The organization claims that these included cases in which whales were struck repeatedly or hunting allegedly took place outside the permitted area.
The Foundation subsequently stated that MAST had confirmed some violations of Icelandic regulations during a preliminary investigation. This is, however, a claim made by the organization itself, and the findings of any official investigation should be distinguished from its political and activist statements.
According to the Foundation, by the time it published its August report, approximately 32 fin whales and four blue whales had been killed in Iceland in 2026. The organization compared this figure with previous seasons and claimed that its presence had contributed to reducing the number of whales killed.
Iceland Whaling and the Return of Hvalur 9
For Kristján Loftsson, a staunch supporter of whaling in Iceland, this year’s season did not begin with the confrontation with Paul Watson. Hvalur hf. returned to fin whale hunting in June after a two-year break, with its two vessels, Hvalur 8 and Hvalur 9, once again sailing from Hvalfjörður. The first whales were killed on June 22 – the first fin whales hunted in Iceland since 2023.
The return to whaling was controversial from the outset. Iceland’s MAST authority investigated several cases in which whales did not die immediately. In one case, it took 31 minutes for a fin whale to die after the first harpoon strike, and according to MAST, three of the ten whales killed at that point had been struck more than once. Hvalur maintains that its hunting operations comply with the applicable regulations.
Monitoring the way whales are killed has consequently become one of the main issues this year. MAST even considered installing cameras directly on board Hvalur 8 and Hvalur 9 to allow the hunts to be recorded and assessed in greater detail.
Profile: KRISTJÁN LOFTSSON
Kristján Loftsson is an Icelandic businessman best known as the longtime head and co-owner of Hvalur hf., the company involved in commercial whaling.
Basic information
Born: March 17, 1943
Birthplace: Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
Nationality: Icelandic
Occupation: Businessman, executive in the fishing and whaling industry
Career
Kristján Loftsson comes from a family with deep connections to whaling. His father founded Hvalur hf., and Kristján entered the industry at a young age – according to available sources, he took part in whaling expeditions from the age of 13.
1974: Took over management of Hvalur hf. following his father’s death
Has served ever since as the company’s CEO and key figure
Main business
Hvalur hf. is Iceland’s last major company engaged in commercial whaling, particularly fin whale hunting
The company also processes and exports whale meat, historically mainly to Japan
Kristján is considered one of the company’s largest shareholders
Controversy
Kristján Loftsson is one of the most controversial figures in Icelandic business:
He has long defended commercial whaling, despite strong opposition from conservation groups
He has faced criticism from international environmental organizations
His activities are closely linked to debates over the ethics of whaling and wildlife conservation
He has sometimes been described in the media as the “last whaling magnate” or “Icelandic Ahab”
Interesting facts
He is considered one of the most influential figures in Iceland’s fishing industry
His company is one of the last active players in commercial whaling in the world
He has repeatedly participated in international discussions on whaling as an Icelandic representative
A conflict Iceland has been dealing with for decades
The story of Bandero is therefore not simply a dispute between one vessel and Icelandic police. It is another chapter in a much longer conflict.
Iceland is one of only a handful of countries, alongside Norway and Japan, that still permit commercial whaling. In Iceland’s case, the target is primarily fin whales. Much of the whale meat is exported to Japan, while domestic consumption of whale meat in Iceland has declined over the years.
The central figure in Icelandic whaling remains Kristján Loftsson, head of Hvalur hf. His vessels are the main target of Operation 86. On its website, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation claims that Loftsson is keeping the industry alive despite declining demand and economic difficulties.
The Icelandic side, however, views the incident differently. For the Coast Guard, Bandero was not simply an environmental protest vessel, but a vessel whose actions, according to the authorities, posed a safety concern and whose crew failed to comply with orders. This difference in perspective lies at the heart of the current dispute.
Paul Watson was not in Iceland
Interestingly, Paul Watson himself was not on board Bandero this time.
The 75-year-old Canadian activist has a long history of confrontations with whalers. In 2024, he spent several months in detention in Greenland after being arrested on the basis of a Japanese warrant. He was released later that year and subsequently said he needed to be careful about travelling to countries where he could face further arrest.
This year, therefore, it was primarily his organization that entered into direct confrontation with the Icelandic authorities.
And although Bandero ended up in Reykjavík and its crew was detained, the Foundation considers Operation 86 ongoing. On its social media channels, it has made clear that the vessel may have been seized, but the reason it sailed into Icelandic waters, in its view, has not disappeared.
About the Author
Iceland has fascinated me for many years. Over the course of numerous journeys across the island, I have driven tens of thousands of kilometers, experienced storms that changed travel plans within minutes, and witnessed days when choosing the right route meant discovering places that most visitors never see. I documented many of these experiences in my documentary film Island in the North.
Through this website, I share practical travel advice, up-to-date information, and firsthand experiences from the field to help others explore Iceland more safely and gain a deeper understanding of its unique landscapes and ever-changing nature.
Komentáře