The killing of over 1400 dolphins in one day determined the largest dolphin massacre ever recorded in the Faroe Islands and possibly the largest single hunt of cetaceans worldwide.
The practice of dolphin hunting is common in the Faroe Islands. However, the slaughter of 1428 mammals in just one day is an unprecedented number for the islands’ history. It was recorded on Sunday the 12th of September, when a large pod of white-sided dolphins was forced into shallow waters of the Skálabotnur beach of the island Eysturoy. Speedboats and jet skis drove them onto the beach for many hours over more than 45 kilometres. The animals were left lined up on land to suffocate, then were killed with knives and finally distributed to locals for consumption. However, the number of dolphins killed was so high that the meat was far too much for the local community, leading to much of it being wasted.
The hunting of mammals, particularly of whales, in the Faroese Islands has been a tradition for hundreds of years. The practice is known as “Grindadráp” (in Faroese) or short “Grind”. For many locals whales are an important element of their diet. They consider it to be an important part of their history and cultural identity. Supporters of the Grind also claim that the hunting of mammals is a sustainable way of gathering food from nature.
The dolphin catch recorded on September 12th was so brutal, that not only did it cause outrage amongst media, animal rights activists and people all over the world, but also many locals were shocked. The chairman of the Faroese Whales Association claimed that the slaughter was excessive. He asserts that it was a mistake. According to him, the exact number of dolphins wasn’t known when the pod was found. It was initially estimated to be of around 200 animals. Only when the killing process began, the enormous size of nearly 1500 dolphins was revealed.
In the Faroe Islands – a self-governing nation within the Kingdom of Denmark – whaling is legal and organised on a community level. The Islands have their own national legislation on mammals hunting, which is different to Denmark where this practice is banned. To take part in the hunts, an official training license is requested.
However, according to locals, this hunt violated several laws regulating the Grind. Firstly, the properly authorized Grind foreman was never informed of the hunt.
Secondly, many participants of the hunt did not hold a license, meaning that they did not have specific training on how to properly kill the animals. In fact, the killing of cetaceans requires a precise method, which is done in a quick way, in order to reduce pain. This wasn’t the case this time, in which the hunt turned into a disorganised massacre.
Thirdly, several of the dolphins were run over by motorboats, resulting in a slow and painful death.
To give an idea of the horrific scale of the killing; each year about 600 pilot whales on average are caught in the Faroe Islands. The number of white-sided dolphins killed is usually lower. The single catch recorded a few months ago largely outnumbered these rates.
The previous record of dolphins killed in one day in the Faroe Islands was of 1200 in 1940.
The practice of whale hunting is called into question due to different reasons. One regards the health consequences of consuming whale meat. Decades of research have revealed that mercury levels, i.e. environmental pollutants, in marine animals that contain higher storage of fat, have been increasing. This can cause different health problems, particularly interfering in the development of children.
Besides, hunting cetaceans reduces the ability of the ocean to keep an ecological balance and to support biodiversity, which is especially a problem due to the climate crisis, pollution of the oceans and overfishing.
Whaling also has an impact on the sea population. It makes it more difficult for the dolphin population to be restored since, being mammals, they only reproduce slowly.
Another reason against whale hunting that can’t be ignored is that harming and killing dolphins is just plain cruel. Dolphins and whales are highly emotional animals and hence suffer pain strongly. It also demonstrates an unethical action of humans towards the planet’s wildlife.
Even though today whale and dolphin hunting is banned in the majority of countries, there are still a few nations that continue this practice. Countries that publicly allow commercial whaling are Iceland, Norway and Japan. In Japan approximately 22,000 small cetaceans are killed annually. Drive hunting of dolphins on a large scale takes place in Taiji, Japan. Examples of countries, where dolphin hunts happen, despite being illegal, are Sri Lanka and Peru. Although there is limited information on the exact number, every year over 100,000 dolphins and small whales are killed across the globe.
Here is a petition you can sign to “Stop the Cruel Dolphin Hunt in the Faroe Islands”:
Another petition you can sign to “Stop the hunt of dolphins and small whales”:
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