Norway hunts hundreds of minke whales annually under a commercial whaling program that raises ongoing welfare concerns about killing method humaneness.
Minke whales hit by harpoons that do not detonate effectively or that miss vital areas experience prolonged dying from explosive wounds and drowning as the boat approaches for secondary killing. Whalers self-reporting time to death data have incentives to underestimate. Independent welfare analysis suggests the humaneness of minke whaling is below the standards applied to land slaughter of equivalent-sized animals. The neurological complexity of whales and their demonstrated emotional responses imply significant suffering capacity during imperfect killing procedures.