AGADIR, Morocco Greenland's indigenous peoples won the right Friday to hunt 27 humpback whales, capping three years of acrimonious debate within the 88-nation International Whaling Commission.The self-ruled Danish territory can now kill and consume nine of the giant marine mammals each year through 2012, with its existing quota of more than 200 minke and fin whales cut by the same number.The de
TOKYO The leader of a U.S -based anti-whaling organization is now on an international wanted list for allegedly masterminding the group's disruption of Japanese whale hunts in the Antarctic Ocean, Japan's coast guard said Friday.The move — done at Japan's request — signals Tokyo's escalating anger against the Sea Shepherd group, which it accuses of putting whalers' lives at risk duri
AGADIR, Morocco – The body that regulates whaling was ending its annual meeting Friday with no decision on whether to authorize limited hunting for profit to curb unrestrained killing in the Earth's most sensitive oceans.In another defeat for conservation-minded countries, the International Whaling Commission authorized Greenland's native population to hunt a few humpback whales for the nex
AGADIR, Morocco Sperm whales feeding even in the most remote reaches of Earth's oceans have built up stunningly high levels of toxic and heavy metals, according to American scientists who say the findings spell danger not only for marine life but for the millions of humans who depend on seafood.A report released Thursday noted high levels of cadmium, aluminum, chromium, lead, silver, mercury and
Three years of talks aimed at reducing whaling activity by Japan, Norway and Iceland broke down Wednesday, leaving management of the population of the world's largest animals essentially in the hands of whale hunters.Anthony Liverpool, acting chairman of the International Whaling Commission, told delegates meeting in Agadir, Morocco, that fundamental positions remained very much apart.The goal o
AGADIR, Morocco International Whaling Commission scientists have warned that a seismic survey in Russia's Far East could push a critically endangered population of whales closer to extinction. The committee is extremely concerned about the potential impact on western gray whales and strongly recommends that Rosneft postpone their survey until at least June 2011, the scientists said in a report
TOKYO Japan's fisheries minister on Thursday blamed anti-whaling nations for the collapse of talks in the International Whaling Commission and questioned whether Japan should stay in the forum.Negotiations in the 88-member body on the future of commercial whaling broke down Wednesday at its annual meeting in Morocco, with pro- and anti-whaling nations unable to break a decades-long deadlock.The
AGADIR, Morocco Kristjan Loftsson, Iceland's millionaire whaling king, doesn't really see the difference: whales are just another fish, he said at a crunch meeting of the International Whaling Commission.The IWC has gathered in Agadir, Morocco in a bid to end -- or at least suspend -- the trench war between pro- and anti-whaling nations.As things stand, Iceland, Japan and Norway use legal loo