Norway Harpoons First Whale Of Season

Norway’s commercial whalers announced their first kill of the season Thursday, with the fishing boat Senet harpooning a 11,000-pound minke off the southern coast.

The hunt opened Monday, despite protests from governments and organizations over Norway nearly doubling its quota of minke to 425 animals from 232 last year.

Norway resumed commercial whaling in 1993, after a grudging six-year break. The small northern country is not bound by a 1986 hunting ban imposed by the International Whaling Commission because IWC rules allow members to reject its rulings.