Yesterday saw the departure of two Icelandic whaling ships on the hunt for up to 150 finback whales.

The vessels, Hvalur 8 and Hvalur 9, belong to Icelandic whaling company Hvalur and have a licence to hunt 150 finback whales this year. Their quota last year was 154, but poor weather conditions meant that just 137 finback whales were caught. The 2013 quote was 134.

If conditions are right, the first animals could be caught today.

All hunted whales will be brought to Hvalfjörður in western Iceland as in previous years. Some 150 people are employed in hunting, processing and freezing operations.

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