Some of the humpback whales that migrate past Bermuda each year could find themselves back on the hunting menu as Greenland presses for permission to kill a number of the giant sea creatures this week although, as of last night, it appeared a decision on the issue was being postponed for a further year.

The contentious request is being closely watched by conservationists, including Bermudian Lisa Vickers who recently coordinated Greenpeace's Great Whale Trail project to monitor and protect the endangered Pacific/Southern Ocean humpback whales.

At present the humpback whales of the Atlantic Ocean are not hunted other than a few that are taken from the waters around the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and Grenadines, but that could change this week if a request by Greenland is granted at the meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Santiago, Chile.

Mrs. Vickers, who is soon to join Greenpeace full-time in Amsterdam, understands the argument for the native Greenlanders to be allowed to catch some whales as subsistence in line with their aboriginal historical heritage.

However, she and others are concerned the subsistence catch might be abused and the whale meat sold widely as a part of a commercial enterprise.

A report made public last week by the World Society for the Protection of Animals showed that a quarter of whale meat caught in Greenland under the regulations permitting a degree of subsistence catch for the indigenous population, is finding its way into the freezer cabinets of supermarkets.

Greenland presently has rights for its native people to hunt a quota of minkie and fin whales for subsistence, not commercial purposes, and also not to hunt any humpback whales.

At the IWC gathering in Chile this week it is seeking to add 10 humpback whales to its catch quota.

Mrs. Vickers said: "Evidence has been called up that shows the rules need to be tightened. I'm not against aboriginal whaling as long as the licence is being used in the proper way and not as a commercial enterprise.

"Hopefully this will all be brought up at the IWC meeting in Chile.

"It does look like there is commercial enterprise (in whale meat) going on. It is getting a lot of coverage and it is bad publicity."

The humpback whales that swim near Bermuda migrate between mating grounds around the Caribbean islands in the winter and the feeding grounds of the North Atlantic in the summer.

The IWC meeting in Santiago concludes this Friday and it appears the Greenland request, which has not been voted upon by the IWC, is being put on hold as the commission buys time and carries out a full study on contentious whaling issuing. That study is not expected to be completed until the 2009 annual IWC gathering.