In downtown Reykjavik, several restaurants catering to tourists offer whale meat. Perhaps they find the idea of doing something that’s illegal back home tempting. Perhaps they believe eating whale is a traditional Icelandic experience. Whatever their reasoning, many tourists will choose to eat whale steak during their Iceland vacation.
But the environment is global, and whether you are acting at home or abroad, what you buy and what you eat can make a difference for endangered and threatened species.
Whale Meat

Icelandic whalers hunt the endangered fin whale, pictured in this photo. Photo credit: Aqqa Rosing-Asvid – Visit Greenland [CC BY 2.0], Wikimedia Commons
Statistics are hard to find on how much of Iceland’s whale meat tourists eat. But if locals defend whaling politically, they don’t have much of a taste for the meat. According to one poll, only 1.7 percent of Icelanders eat whale meat at least monthly. The rise of responsible tourism probably contributed to the good news that in 2019, for the first time in 17 years, there will be no whale hunting in Iceland.

The most commonly served whale meat is from the minke whale. The minke whale is listed under CITES. Photo credit: The great big fish in the sky [CC0], Wikimedia Commons
Softshell Turtles
The news is not always so positive. In April, the last known female Yangtze giant softshell turtle died in a zoo in Suzhou, China. Once plentiful, softshell turtles, like many other turtle species, are prized as food. Habitat loss and overharvesting have driven the species to the brink of almost certain extinction.

Prized as food, the critically endangered Yangtze giant softshell turtle have almost been eaten to extinction. Photo credit: Phuongcacanh at Vietnamese Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0], Wikimedia Commons
A Global Problem

Also nearly eaten to extinction, the Chinese giant salamander is now critically endangered. Photo credit: Petr Hamerník [CC BY-SA 4.0], Wikimedia Commons
Feature image: critically endangered Beluga sturgeon, photo credit: Максим Яковлєв [CC BY-SA 4.0], Wikimedia Commons
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