this is "nightline." tonight, on the hunt, high drama on the high seas, whaling in iceland despite an international ban and the controversial anti-whaling activists making waves. >> they're not iceland's whales. they're the world's whales. >> the global outrage over the appetite for the endangered species. plus -- >> hi, you're watching "nightline." >>odel taking us from high fashion to high-tech. >> we have amazing, brilliant ladies in every corner. >> doubling as a computer whiz and inspiring millions of followers. >> i would love to offer them something more beautiful than just a picture backstage at a runway show. and serena versus roger, two

tennis icons facing off for the first time ever. but first, the "nightline" five. number one in just 60 seconds.

good evening. thank you for joining us. new year, new threat to some of the largest mammals on earth. japan just announced it will resume commercial whaling this

year, and they're not the only ones who are on the hunt. tonight, abc's gloria riviera takes us back to iceland and the front lines of the war over whaling. >> reporter: in the frigid waters off the coast of iceland, these gentle giants seem to rule the sea. it's a breathtaking performance for tourists from around the world. but beneath the surface, some species of whales are being hunted. iceland is one of just three countries in the world that allows whaling for profit in defiance of an international ban. >> if you are a hunter, this is just the same. you just shoot the animal. >> reporter: making this one of the front lines in the war over whaling. >> it's heartbreaking to watch this, these beautiful creatures.

>> reporter: we're headed out of reykjavík going to meet some anti-whaling activists with a group called sea shepherd and essentially they keep a 24-hour vigil, monitoring every whale that comes into the whaling station. hey. so this is it. >> this is the whaling station, yeah. >> reporter: this is the whaling station. rob reed is leading sea shepherd uk's mission in iceland. not many of these left? >> this is the largest whaling station on land anywhere. >> reporter: their goal, to shut down this whaling station for good. >> what you can see down here is the last remains of the two whales that were brought in at 5:00 this morning by the whaling ship. >> reporter: this hunting season, sea shepherd was staked out here around the clock. you can see the ship just coming round the corner of the rocks. waiting and watching. >> about four or five miles off at the moment. it's quite hard to tell how fast he's going. >> reporter: when a catch comes

in, sea shepherd was ready to live stream it, using social media as a weapon. >> it has just unloaded two more endangered fin whales. >> really appreciate you guys joining us to watch. >> reporter: hashtags, their harpoons. >> this is the 22nd fin whale that has been killed. >> reporter: images like this igniting global outrage. >> it's applying pressure, making sure there's maximum pressure from the international community but also from within iceland, because this isn't actually well reported in iceland. >> reporter: sea shepherd has a controversial past. some have even called their tactics ecoterrorism. the group notoriously clashing with japanese whaling ships near antarctica in the animal planet reality series, "whale wars." in iceland, they sank two whaling ships in 1986. >> the residents of reykjavík in iceland are reeling from an attack on their whaling industry. >> reporter: more than three decades later, those rotting

ships a remai how far they're willing to go. today, their tactics are less extreme but their target is the same, the whaling company and its managing director, one of iceland's richest men. do you carry some fear that sea shepherd may do that again? >> i don't know. these are vicious people. >> reporter: do you have security on your ships? >> sure. if people want to do things, they do it. >> reporter: he is the last standing company hunting fin whales, the second largest animal in the world. most of the meat is exported to japan where it's considered a delicacy. now, i have to tell you, when i hear that described, an explosive detonating inside an animal, it sounds horrible. what is your argument? >> this is the most efficient way there is. it's like a bullet they shoot through deer. >> reporter: and he believes whales are a renewable resource. >> we are conservationists.

conserve and utilize. >> reporter: so you call your business a conservation business and believe it to be so. >> oh, sure. it's sustainable so we are happy with that. >> reporter: the icelandic government says the whale population here is stable and that the quota they set up to 193 fin whales this season is conservative. but while there are about 40,000 of this species in iceland's waters, globally, fin whales are endangered. from what we've been told, the fin whale population here in iceland is strong enough to sustain this quota. what does sea shepherd say to that? >> there's less than 100,000 of these whales on the planet and all those whales are distributed throughout the world's oceans. just because they're easily found at this time of the year off iceland, it doesn't justify the hunting of them. they're not iceland's fin whales. they're the world's fin whales. >> reporter: that night, we get word the fin whale count has risen. hello.

hi. is that rob? we are now headed to the whaling station because this whale is about to come in to be processed here and sea shepherd is racing here so they can live stream the whole thing. as we get closer, the scent of the kill permeates the air. the smell comes in waves with the wind and when it hits you, oh, it's hard to breathe. fin whales are so massive that the ship can only pull two at a time, slowly. processing station is suddenly active, preparing and blasting music. they've just started to play a song from the "grease" soundtrack. >> normally when you come down here, it's very quiet, but tonight, there's music playing. i just find it extremely disrespectful. >> that is two whales on the ship. >> reporter: which is not what you wanted to see. >> no. >> reporter: those white spots in the water? tonight's kill. >> two poor souls strapped to

the side of a boat. they'll be wenched across here unser moensly, pulled up on to the deck and butchered. it's heartbreaking to watch this, these beautiful creatures. >> reporter: we are now seeing these two whales being brought up on to the deck. we're really seeing this whale next to these people, and the people down there look tiny. that animal is so huge as it's being wenched up there, ready to be processed. sea shepherd streaming live every moment to viewers around the world in realtime. what are people saying? >> very depressing news. oh, my god, it's beyond disgusting. >> that's why we're here is to expose this to the world and make sure everyone knows this is still happening in iceland. >> reporter: they've removed a bit of the tail and they've made big incisions along the whale's body. they'll peel off the skin and start to process it.

we are going to stop showing that now. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: across iceland, meat from fin whales and other whales can be easily found in markets. >> we have the whale blubber from the fin whale. >> reporter: and at restaurants. >> you have a pepper steak. we have like a sashimi. >> reporter: whale meat is mostly marketed to tourists. >> how many signatures do you have already? >>. >> reporter: which is why activists have also taken to the streets, asking visitors to boycott eating whale meat during their stay. this campaign slogan, meet us, don't eat us. and now there is an entire industry that depends on whales being kept alive. whale watching was nonexistent here just two decades ago. these days, it's a booming business. >> it's amazing. it's the first time i've seen whales. >> oh, my gosh. that's incredible.

>> reporter: the whale population here also draws researchers from around the world. it's still thrilling? >> it never gets old. something like that, something that weighs close to 40 tons can >> r t whaling sson came t close, the decades-old d continues. >> it's a resource that has youngs and multiplies. you can carry on whaling forever. >> reporter: these creatures both a natural resource and natural wonder. >> i have a 4-year-old daughter who i want her to be growing up in a world where whales still exist even and hopefully the world will be a better place than it is at the moment. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm gloria riviera in iceland. >> our thanks to gloria. next, how the super model empowers young girls. ! oh! oh! ♪ ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential

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super model karlie karlie ke rebecca jarvis revisits the surprising way kloss empowers girls. >> reporter: from the moment super model karlie kloss wakes up, she's on, documenting her life. >> i do like a sideways. >> reporter: and sharing it on her own terms. >> this is my best work. here we go. i'm on my way to be global adidas statement collection launch. >> reporter: and wherever the

26-year-old kloss goes, she takes her millions of followers along for the ride. and now when the 40-time "vogue" cover girl isn't shooting international campaigns or hanging with taylor swift and their girl squad -- >> and we have amazing, brilliant ladies in every corner working on projects. >> reporter: she's working to empower young women by doing something that might surprise you. >> there are a lot of aspects to what you're going to build. >> reporter: she's teaching them to code. she founded code with klossy, a free two-week coding camp for teenage girls in 2015 after she discovered her own love of coding. >> i have this audience of young women across the country, around the world. i really care about the message that i'm sending them. i thought, you know what? i would love to offer them something more meaningful than just a picture backstage at a runway show. >> reporter: kloss got her start as a model at just 13 years old,

discovered at a local charity fashion show in st. louis where she grew up. so how quickly did it go from being normal in st. louis to super model? >> very quickly. when i started my freshman year of high school, i got an opportunity to walk in new york fashion week for calvin kline and i was 15 years old, like literally had started high school two days before and it just put me on the map. >> reporter: since then, she's become one of the most recognizable faces in the fashion world. >> i was going back and forth between, like, sitting in my chemistry class, getting on a plane that night right after school, going to paris, walking dior couture, opening the show, being in the campaign, and then going back home and, like, needing to still turn in my five paragraph essay. >> reporter: and i bet you did too, by the way. >> oh, yeah. but it was this really amazing dual world and life that i live, lived and still live, i guess. >> reporter: and when we met up

with kloss, it had been a really busy week. >> i got married on a thursday, went on a honeymoon for two days and went straight into production for project runway. that's kind of my life. but the good thing is i really love what i do. >> reporter: the couture clad super beauty might not fit the stereotype for that hoodie wearing coder but the daughter of a doctor, kloss says math and science have always been in her dna. for karlie kloss to do out there and talk about coding or science and technology and math, was that scary in the beginning? >> it definitely was scary because nobody expected me to do that. everybody expected me to be one thing, like to be on the cat walks or in magazines. me standing up and kind of identifying my nerdy passions has, like, ignited that for so many other girls. >> reporter: in less than four years, they've expanded to 50 camps in 25 cities across the country, and today, these

campers are learning swift, the same language used by developers to create apps for apple. >> last monday, most everybody didn't have any swift experience. you learn the a to z of how to build something and then we basically give the last two and a half days to figure out what kind of app you want to build and to build it. >> reporter: each group collaborating to solve real world problems. >> we're making an app for sustainability. >> i have a personal project that i work on for this program in school, trying to detect sinkholes before they collapse. >> reporter: as young female coders, they say this camp provides a supportive place to grow and thrive. >> so what are the coding classes in school like? >> just, like, threethe frow ah of it is all guys and it's basically feels like a guys' club so being here feels like a safe space. >> we have this network of girls that have already done the program. i can just hit up my girlfriends any time i wanted to and be like, hey, help me out here.

so that was really great. >> reporter: valeria started coding her sophomore year of high school. >> these past few summers have been a rejuvenating experience, having amazing girls to work with and talk about code with. >> reporter: why all women? what is the importance of having a camp dedicated to them and coding? >> there are so many barriers to entry for why young women don't get into computer science and it starts with kind of having access to the education and, but girls even who have coding class at their school are hesitant to take it for a number of reasons. they're the only girl in the class. they feel dumb asking a so they dp >> repy, ile morthdu workers, they make up less than 30% of those in the science and engineering industries. >> that affects the overall pipeline of women in the industry with the skills to be able to code, to be able to get an engineering job. >> reporter: you're going to

show us some code today. >> after learning some basics at camp, i sat down with kloss and her teacher from the flat iron school for a private lesson. >> reporter: our goal, to make it rain emoji hearts. >> this is what the code looks like to power the emoji rain. >> reporter: the code directs each heart. >> so we've got the function that we call movimoji and the function is the engine that really tells what we want each emoji to do. >> reporter: how many lines of code was that to get this? >> 73. >> some of it could have been simplified. there's a lot of ways to write the same thing. the more beautiful andde writte of simple it is. so that's how you make it rain. >> reporter: as i spend more time with kloss, it's hard not to notice an exuding sense of gratitude for the opportunities she's been given and what she's been able to give back. >> i want to use any kind of voice or power that i have to help other young women and

that's not because i'm a goody two shoes girl trying to be a role model. i just sincerely care about helping other young women and that's always been the case. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm rebecca jarvis in new york. and next, serena versus roger, two tennis legends welcome the new year and some healthy competition. (vo) for a nasty cold, take new dayquil severe with vicks vapocool. (acapella) whoa! (vo) and vaporize it with an intense rush of vicks vapors. (acapella) ahhhhhhhhhhh! (vo) new dayquil severe with vicks vapocool. the daytime coughing, stuffy head, vaporize your cold, medicine. (host) here...at snowfest... (vo) for your worst sore throat pain try new vicks vapocool drops. it's not candy, it's powerful relief. (acapella) ahhhhhh! (vo) vaporize sore throat pain with new vicks vapocool drops. ultimate feast time it'sat red lobster.r own pick four of ten favorites to create the ultimate feast you've been dreaming of.

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and finally tonight, an historic meeting on the tennis court to start the new year. serena williams and roger federer squaring off in a mixed doubles match at the cup in perth, australia. the legends have 43 grand slam titles between them. federer and his partner beat williams and her partner to advance in the tournament. but after the match, it was nothing but love. >> people talk about her serve so much and i see why it is such a wonderful serve because you just can't read it. you don't see until the very -- >> i can't read yours either. >> wching "nightline." as always, we're serving up our full episodes of hulu. thanks for the company, america. good night.