Chile: Senate passes whale-sanctuary bill

Chile is making its entire Pacific Ocean territorial waters a whale sanctuary.

The Senate unanimously passed a bill submitted by President Michelle Bachelet that bans whale hunting off Chile’s 3,400 mile coast.

Ms Bachelet is expected to sign the legislation into law in the coming days.

The bill bans hunting of whales both for commercial and scientific purposes.

Chile has not hunted whales since the 1970s, but Ms Bachelet says the South American nation wants to send a clear sign of its will to protect whales in its waters.

Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama already ban whale hunting. And a whale sanctuary exists in Antarctica.

Environmental groups hailed the approval of the bill by congress.