Whale Killed in Active Feeding Grounds
A criminal complaint has been lodged against a Chilean-flagged krill supertrawler named Antarctic Endeavour for killing a humpback whale on the 25th of March, the same day that it was witnessed by crew on board the Sea Shepherd vessel Allankay, dragging its trawl net through waters where Sea Shepherd scientists documented humpback whales foraging on krill, their primary food source.
The Antarctic Endeavour trawling for krill next to a feeding humpback whale, 2024. Photo by Youenn Kerdavid/Sea Shepherd.
The day prior to the death of the whale, the captain and crew of Allankay arrived at Coronation Island. At the time, there were eight supertrawlers fishing around Coronation Island, one of which was Antarctic Endeavour. The area is a proposed marine protected area.
Scientists on board the Allankay witnessed whales following fishing vessels for hours, actively swimming in their wake while apparently swimming and diving above the trawl nets as they dragged through the water, presumably looking for krill.
“That morning, there were so many whales around, that we couldn’t even count them all as they dodged between fishing vessels. Ten minutes before—we would later discover—a whale was found dead in the net of Antarctic Endeavour, I noted the presence of two humpback whales in my observation log. We were less than two nautical miles away from Antarctic Endeavour at the time. I wonder now if one of those humpback whales ended up in their net”, said Dr. Lucia Morillo, presently on board Allankay.
As first reported by Chilean news outlet La Pensa Austral, crew on board Antarctic Endeavour divulged that as they were hauling in their fishing gear, they noticed a whale interacting with the net before vanishing. Once the net was fully on deck, the same crew saw the head of a 10-meter-long humpback whale through the mesh of the net. Its ventral grooves, the iconic folds that adorn the bellies of humpback whales, were full of krill, its jaw bloodied. The whale carcass was discharged back to sea, down the same stern ramp where it had been hauled up.
Based on the evidence provided by the fishermen themselves, as well as photographs of the dead whale on deck, María Tapia Almonacid, the national director of the Chile’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Service has filed a criminal complaint against the owner of the Antarctic Endeavour, as well as the ship’s captain and any other persons found responsible through further investigation.
A Pattern of Fatal Entanglements
A trawl net is a funnel-shaped fishing net with a wide opening that is dragged through the water, capturing any marine wildlife in its path. Although the krill fishery targets small shrimp-like crustaceans no bigger than five to six centimeters in length, trawl nets on board krill supetrawlers can be big enough to envelop a jumbo jet.
Whale entanglement is not new to the krill fishery. In 2024, at least three juvenile humpback whales were fatally entangled in the nets of krill supertrawlers. One of these deaths also occurred in the nets of the Antarctic Endeavour.
Under Chilean law, “anyone who kills or hunts or captures any specimen of any cetacean species shall be punished with a minimum term of imprisonment without prejudice to any administrative sanctions”. The minimum term of imprisonment is set at five years. The case has been forwarded to the Chilean Public Prosecutors Office.
Painted on the hull of Antarctic Endeavour is the logo of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), an organization that receives royalties for granting ecolabels to fisheries that it determines are “sustainable”.
A Global Call to Action
For the past three years, Sea Shepherd has been sounding the alarm on the risk that the krill fishery poses to whale survival, by shadowing the krill fishing fleet and documenting the conflict between feeding cetaceans, and a growing fleet of supertrawlers targeting their food source for the production of omega-3 health food supplements for which there are plant-based alternatives.
Sea Shepherd applauds the actions of the Chilean Fisheries and Aquaculture Service for filing a criminal complaint against Antarctic Endeavour and urges the Marine Stewardship Council to strip the vessel of its sustainability certification.
The 2025 Antarctic Defense Campaign is a collaboration between Sea Shepherd Global and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Recognizing that the protection of Antarctica and its marine ecosystem affects us all, the mission is also supported by Sea Shepherd Germany, Sea Shepherd Switzerland, and all countries that are part of the Global movement.
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