Whaling In The Faroe Islands, Shameful Act On The Face Of Humanity ?
Whale hunting has been a common phenomenon for a long period of time. It is known to have existed on Iceland, in the Hebrides, and in Shetland and Orkney.
Whaling in the Faroe Islands has been practised since at least the tenth century
Many different species of whales and dolphins occur in the waters around the Faroe Islands. Of these, the small and abundant pilot whales are taken in the Faroe Islands for their meat and blubber in a whale hunt which is organised on the community level and regulated by national legislation.
This unique and traditional form of food production in the Faroe Islands has over the years successfully adapted to modern standards of resource management and animal welfare. The meat and blubber of the pilot whale has been an important part of the islanders staple diet. The blubber, in particular, has been highly valued both as food and for processing into oil, which was used for lighting fuel and other purposes. Parts of the skin of pilot whales were also used for ropes and lines, while stomachs were used as floats.
Around 950 Long-finned Pilot Whales are killed annually, mainly during the summer. The hunts, called “grindadráp” in Faroese, are non-commercial and are organised on a community level; anyone can participate. The hunters first surround the pilot whales with a wide semi-circle of boats. The boats then drive the pilot whales slowly into a bay or to the bottom of a fjord.
There is a raging debate about whether the pilot whale hunt represents a significant threat to pilot whale populations; the actual size of the Northeast Atlantic Pilot Whale population is a subject of debate between different organizations.
Animal-rights groups criticize the hunt as being cruel and unnecessary,while the hunters claim in return that most journalists do not exhibit sufficient knowledge of the catch methods or its economic significance.
Most Faroese maintain that it is their right to catch pilot whales given that they have done so for centuries. The Faroese whalers defend their actions before international organizations like Greenpeace with three arguments: one, that grindadráp is not a hunt as such, but a dráp meaning a kill (ie that they do not regularly take to sea just to hunt for pilot whales, but only kill those which are sighted swimming to close at land); two, that the pilot whale hunt does not exist for commercial reasons, but for internal food distribution among households; and three, they do not believe the pilot whale to be an endangered species.
Animal welfare campaigners say methods of killing whales are so inhumane that all whaling operations should cease. A coalition of 140 groups, Whalewatch, says many whales do not die quickly when hit, and tests to decide exactly when a whale is dead are inadequate.
The well-known UK naturalist Sir David Attenborough says in a foreword that Whalewatch’s report shows “there is no humane way to kill a whale at sea”.
But whalers say their methods are not cruel, and reject calls to end whaling.
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I wonder where that tasty meet in the supermarket comes from. I’ve heard about bloody cattle slaughtering but thats just to absurd have you ever seen those wonderful animals? those innocent eyes. So no, that cant be true…….. that most be one of those conspiracy theory’s
wrong so wrong!!
“there is no humane way to kill a whale at sea”
Just as well, that they’re not killed at sea.
rxwywcouwrehyizgwell, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how’s life? hope it’s introduce branch
hunting can only done to survive
Hi you guys im from the Faroe Islands but live in America so i know fluent English (better than faroese actually) and let me tell you how they actually do it.
Yes it is possible to kill the whales at sea, how do i know? Because i have been standing right there when it happens. Fishermen are out at sea and when they see a couple of whales they know there is a big herd. So they heard them into the shore and corner them. Then a whole bunch of men go out into the water with their knives…they can do this because the water is shallow since they are on the beach and the whales can’t really swim cause…well its shallow. If they see that a whale is pregnant they will let it go. They cut them on a nerve in the neck, they die instantly and don’t really feel it. Unlike the way America kills their chickens, pigs, and cows, if you think whale killing is cruel you obviously don’t know how the meat you are eating was killed. Just wanna put that out there for those of you who don’t know…but thats how they do it. Don’t believe me…go to the Faroes yourself and have a look.