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game on land.
"Whales are the holy cows of the industrialised Western world," McCallum said dismissively.
Besides, Norwegian whalers don't touch the killer whale population but hunt only minke whales.
According to a report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Norway generated an income of $12 million from whale watching in 1998 and the number of visitors has grown since. By comparison, the 700 or so whales caught each year make fishermen 20 million Norwegian crowns ($2.83 million).
This year, the number of whale watchers at Tysfjord is expected to total 2,500 and with new investments the figure is expected to double, said Geir Skogvoll, whose family owns a local hotel.
Chantal Forsa and her colleagues at the local tourist centre understand the business must remain relatively small-scale because the season is short and they want to arrange the tours in a sustainable way.
Moreover, Tysfjord's tour operators are well aware that if the herrings decide one year to return to their old winter home near Iceland, the whales will go and with them the tourists.
"We figure that the oldest herring which are around 15 years old have never been to Iceland and know nothing about it," said Forsa.
"And if there are some older ones, we hope they are so old and senile they have forgotten everything about it."
Story by Anna Peltola
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