Whale is on the menu in Reykjavík, Iceland. Bill Ward

There is still much that is unknown about the life history of fin whales, including the North Atlantic fin whales that are the target of the Icelandic hunts; their breeding grounds remain relatively unknown, and it is apparent that the number of stocks or populations is different than previously thought.

The breeding area of fin whales in the North Atlantic is unknown and the hypothesis does not suggest where the three breeding areas are but the whales must be breeding in the deep waters in the open ocean with no geographic barriers.

In 1983, he was one of the key votes in getting Iceland not to object to the IWC moratorium, and it is hoped that by reaching out to him, he can make a difference. In late May, the Whales Need US Coalition of NGOs ran a series of ads in a local Portland, Maine newspaper on the occasion of a visit by Grimsson to the US.

Received more than 1.1 million signatures, and called for the Netherlands to stop the transshipment of whale meat through Dutch ports. As a result, the Dutch government agreed to work to halt such shipments, and to develop a code of conduct on whale meat transfers that could apply across the EU. The port of Hamburg and the country of Finland banned such transshipments in the late 1980s.

Hvalur whale processing plant in Hvalfjordur, Iceland. The first endangered fin whale was offloaded and butchered here. big-ashb

According to media reports published Wednesday, Iceland killed its first whale of the season just a couple of days ago, an endangered fin whale, the second largest animal after the blue whale.Yesterday, Australia's News.com , reported the killing of yet another fin whale by Hvalur whaling company and the pursuit of a possible third animal. Iceland resumed whaling after a two year absence, flouting a commercial ban on whaling established by the IWC in 1982.According to the UK Guardian's Philip Hoare , Iceland's reason for suspending the hunts was due, in part, to Japan's economic market which was "suffering the after-effects of its cataclysmic earthquake."Now that the market has recovered however, millionaire Kristján Loftsson, owner of Hvalur whaling company is back in business, backed by the Icelandic government.The cetacean group: Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), reports that Loftsson fuels his hunting ships with the oil from dead whales and sells fin whale products to Japan. Part of the product is used to make gourmet dog treats.Fin whales are classified as Endangered (EN A1d) on the International Union forConservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Prior to the IWC's protection, as many as 30,000 fin whales were slaughtered annually between 1935 to 1965. As a result, the IWC placed the cetaceans under full protection and set catch limits for all commercial whaling to zero.Iceland however, continues to defy the ban, setting a fin whale quota this season at 154 animals plus 20 percent of last year’s unused catch—180 fin whales in total. In 2006, just seven endangered fin whales were killed in Icelandic waters, but the numbers keep rising. In 2009, 125 fin whales were killed followed by 148 in 2010.Estimates predict that there are fewer than one hundred thousand fin whales remaining in the oceans and there remains a great deal that we don't know about this species of whale. Kate O'Connell, a marine wildlife consultant with the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) told Digital Journal:O'Connell explained that there were difficulties in, "stating with certainty what the breeding areas for fin whales are in the North Atlantic," and these difficulties have "even been acknowledged by Icelandic scientists," she said.One acknowledgment appeared in a 2012 research proposal by Vikingsson, G. et al. O'Connell highlighted the following passage:Furthermore, O'Connell explained, even HAFRO, Iceland's Marine Research Institute , acknowledged "uncertainties in stock structure," she said.The IWC, in response to a "number of queries received by the IWC Secretariat," recently stated that it, "has not expressed a formal view on the issue of Iceland’s resumption of commercial whaling."O'Connell informed me that it was difficult for the IWC to officially comment because, "the Secretariat of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) represents all of the different member governments." As a result, she says, the IWC is, "constrained as to how it is able to comment on matters," but it can report on member's comments, she added.In 2011, several governments did comment on Icelandic whaling quotas. The AWI consultant said that the quotas were viewed to be, 'far in excess' of what would be considered sustainable. The United States, itself a strong critic of Icelandic whaling, promised a firm response to the country for flouting the IWC moratorium.In July 2011, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke certified under section 8 of the Fisherman's Protective Act of 1967, as amended (the "Pelly Amendment") (22 U.S.C. 1978), that nationals of Iceland are conducting whaling activities that diminish the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) conservation program.Two months later, President Obama also expressed concerns over Locke's assessment and promised, "to keep the situation under review and to continue to urge Iceland to cease its commercial whaling activities."Locke and twenty conservation groups had hoped that the US President would impose sanctions on Iceland over its whaling program. While the sanctions didn't happen said Whale and Dolphin Conservation International , the group is now hoping that with Iceland's whaling resumption, President Obama will impose and enforce stronger economic measures against the country.O'Connell too, remains hopeful. "We believe that President Obama will respond to the resumption of fin whaling in Iceland both on the basis of his September 2011 directives and the campaign promises that he made to the American public to 'strengthen the International Whaling Commission's moratorium'," she told me.Backed by "a number of efforts underway right now, both in the US and elsewhere," O'Connell added, "many organizations in the States are running action alerts," and "calling on their members to contact the US government."Conservation groups learn quickly that persistence and collaboration can pay off. The AWI's own action alert , is supported by others from the National Resources Defense Council , the Resource Development Council and the Humane Society of the United States WDC's petition drive meanwhile, is aimed directly at Iceland's President, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, for a reason.O'Connell explained the history there:At the end of May, Tokyo-based company Michinoku Farm, removed dog treats containing fin whale products imported from Iceland, from its website. The company responded just hours after pressure from WDC, the UK-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI).In another instance, O'Connell told Digital Journal that a petition by the global civic organization, Avaaz, recently received excellent news from a petition drive aimed at the Dutch government. The petition, she said:Avaaz has now turned its attention toward HB Grandi seafood in Germany . It is a company that O'Connell says operates in essence, as "a subsidiary of Hvalur, the whaling company." Its facilities she added, "are being used to cut and process the fin whale meat."According to Greenpeace, who captured the first undercover footage of the initial fin whale being offloaded from Halvur 8, Iceland's whale-watching tourist industry is already panicking.Greenpeace explained , that the country's tourism industry is already, "pointing out that they make far more money from whale watching than they could ever make from killing the whales."John Sauven, director of Greenpeace UK, lamented the whale's slaughter in the Guardian newspaper . "Whaling is brutal and belongs to a bygone era not the 21st century," he said. "It is deeply regrettable that a single Icelandic whaler backed by the government is undermining the global ban on commercial whaling which is there to secure the future of the world's whales," Sauven added.