The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd estimates that 250 pilot whales were killed last week as the whaling hunt entered the peak period. Is it time for tradition to be buried with the whale bones littering the seabed?
Sea Shepherd protestors have been arrested trying to stop the pilot whale hunts in the Faroe Islands, but video footage and photographs by other group members captured the horrors of the mass slaughter.
The whale hunt known as the grindadráp, or “grind”, is a centuries old
tradition with recorded history dating back to 1584, according to
whaling proponents whaling fo.
The whale meat and blubber once provided an important food source for
the Faroese people, and whale oil was used for cooking and export.
Now, the islands have a thriving fishing industry with exports to the
U.S and Europe. Fishery products, including farmed salmon, represent
more than 95% of the total Faroese goods export. An archipelago of 18
islands between Iceland and Norway, the Faroe Islands are a self-governing nation within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Last week, Denmark were supporting the whaling hunt. Sea Shepherd’s Wyanda Lu blink, Captain of the Bridgette Bar dot
trimaran, alleges that Danish Navy ships guarded the flotilla driving
the whales into the shallow bay at Bøur. “How Denmark - an anti-whaling
member nation of the European Union, subject to laws prohibiting the
slaughter of cetaceans – can attempt to justify its collaboration in
this slaughter is incomprehensible,” she said.
The “grind” can take place at any time of year when a pod is sighted,
but July to September is most typical when pods migrate past the
islands. Entire families of whales, or pods, including pregnant whales
and mothers with calves, are driven ashore where they are butchered,
fully conscious, using hooks and knives.
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