420 Dive Log Australasia OCTOBER 2026

campaign led by Rodney Coronado to scuttle two of Iceland’s four whaling ships in November 1986. Those two rusting hulks ( Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7 ) presently sit on the rocky beach near Kristján Loftsson’s whaling ships in Hvalfjörður. Our opposition shut down its whaling operations in 2007, 2019, the summer of 2023, all of 2024, and 2026. Kristján Loftsson is an octogenarian multi-millionaire with enormous political influence in Iceland. Despite most Icelanders and the current government opposing whaling, he finally was able to secure a five-year quota to murder endangered Fin whales beginning this year. I do use the word “murder” deliberately because there is a large body of evidence to demonstrate that whales are highly intelligent, self-aware, sentient beings that have been awarded legal rights in Ecuador and India and protective rights in New Zealand. This summer, Loftsson continued to hunt with a quota of 150 endangered Fin whales, despite having no market for whale meat. Japan declined to purchase whales from Iceland, leaving his only market as his amusingly ambitious but impractical idea of selling whale-oil iron supplement pills to, according to him, “starving” Africans. Because of what I saw in that dying whale’s eye a half century ago, I found myself once again this summer confronting this modern-day Captain Ahab, a man who kills whales not for profit but simply because he likes to kill whales. Because of Japan’s continued pursuit despite the dismissal of the Interpol Red Notice against me, I was not able to command the campaign myself. I hired a captain who agreed with the objectives and tactics, but upon arrival off Iceland, refused my order to turn off the AIS system, which allowed the whalers and the Icelandic Coast Guard to track us. At the same time, the whaling ships turned off their AIS system without any complaint from the Coast Guard. She also refused to enter Icelandic territorial waters, making it impossible to intercept the whalers. This forced the crew to just sit on the whaling grounds, and although this annoyed the whalers, we knew they could continue to avoid us. This was cause for concern followed by the captain and crew because deciding the plans were too risky, despite all of them agreeing in advance to do so. I had appointed Iceland veteran Rodney Coronado to lead the campaign. He had a clear mandate. Unfortunately, the hired captain and many of the crew refused to work with him for fear of the possible personal consequences. They had forgotten that saving the lives of the whales came before all else. This resulted in my replacing the first captain with Whale Wars veteran Beck Straussner and having the ship return to Iceland after a crew change. Rod, having lost confidence in the crew, regrettably decided to leave. I appointed another Whale Wars veteran, Shannon Mann, as campaign leader.

The replacement crew also expressed second thoughts upon arrival off Iceland; I would never ask them to do what I would not do myself. When they refused to carry out the primary tactics, I instructed them to move inside Icelandic territorial waters to confront the whaling ships as they departed from Hvalfjörður, where they are based. This time, my replacement captain, Beck Straussner, agreed and quickly intercepted the Hvalur 9 , resulting in the whalers turning back to port. The Icelandic Coast Guard predictably mobilized, and I have to admit, they were impressive. A large warship, the Freya , and a large helicopter with fully armed tactical units rappelling down to their deck in a show of force, three smaller chase ships with aircraft surveillance overhead. Excellent visuals and very helpful. In past confrontations, I had taken measures to avoid boarding, and this had been successful with the navies of Norway and the Soviet Union, but my crew were not willing to resist, forcing me to adopt a new tactical approach. With the crew allowing the Coast Guard to storm the Bandero , the media crew kept the cameras rolling. The boarding party had dressed perfectly for their part with

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DIVE LOG Australasia #420 October ’ 26

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