Iceland. Land of ice. And volcanoes. And financial ruin (like everywhere else these days). And puffins.
They’ve come up with another gem of an idea to attract visitors to their lump of rock: Whale watching – with a twist.
You get to eat what you see.
Watching and hunting whales “work perfectly together” in a look-and-cook combo of tourism and gastronomy, Iceland’s Whale Commissioner said on Thursday at the global whaling forum.
“Many of the tourists that go on whale watching tours go to restaurants afterwards to taste whale meat,” said Tomas Heider, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in the British Channel Islands.
Iceland have a “Whale Commissioner”. That’s brilliant. And so is his idea, despite what others may say:
Many countries in the 89-nation IWC, especially in South America, argue that potential income from tourism far outstrips the value of commercial whaling, and that the two do not mix well.
But in Iceland, Heider insists, the industries feed off each other.
“Even though we have been increasing our whaling in recent years, the tourists are streaming in numbers to Iceland and going to whale watching tours like never before,” he said. “It works perfectly together.”
Of course, we’d never, ever, ever think of doing something so vulgar in South Africa, would we?
Unless of course you’ve ever been to Oudtshoorn, the self-proclaimed “Ostrich Capital of the World”, where you can see, feed, ride and then eat the local birdlife.
I trust that anyone commenting negatively on the News24 article or writing an angry letter to the IWC (on recycled paper with a recycled pen) will also be contacting Western Cape Tourism and complaining bitterly about these same heinous practices taking place on our own doorstep.
Disclosure: 6000 eats ostrich most weeks and has also tasted whale meat on two occasions. He was unimpressed.
Well, to be fair, ostriches aren’t protected animals, and neither are they endangered.
Can’t really say the same about whales, now can you?
Gary > Actually, you can say the same about many of the whales off Iceland’s coast.
One big plus for the whales is that ostrich tastes much nicer.