COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – International animal advocacy group Sea Shepherd said on Wednesday it expects pressure from the Faroe Islands to end the traditional push of marine mammals into shallow water, where they are slaughtered by the its meat and fat.
A local activist posted horrific video footage of Sunday’s massacre of 1,428 white-faced dolphins on the central island of the Faroe Islands, Eysturoy, in the North Atlantic archipelago. The number of dolphins was so large (much larger than in previous years) that it appears that participants have been unable to follow regulations to minimize the suffering of mammals.
“It was a complete disaster, in fact unprecedented, it could even be the largest cetacean hunt in documented history in the entire world,” said Robert Read, campaign director for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Environmental activists have long claimed that the practice is cruel. But this year even the people of the Faroe Islands who advocate this four-century practice have spoken out amid fears that this year’s massacre will attract unwanted attention.
“We have to admit that things have not gone as we would like,” said Hans Jacob Hermansen, the former president of the Faroese association behind the actions. “We’re going to assess if something went wrong, what went wrong and why, what can we do to prevent it in the future.”
Sea Shepherd says it expects “much stricter restrictions” around these hunts and, if not, “at least a ban on killing white dolphins in the Atlantic.”
Hunters in the Faroe Islands are accustomed to criticism from animal advocacy groups and backtracking on what they consider to be interference in a cultural practice.
Every year, the islanders lead herds of mammals (mainly pilot whales) to shallow waters, where they are stabbed to death. A blowing hook is used to secure the stranded whales and their spine and the main artery leading to the brain are cut with knives, turning the water in the bay red with blood. Actions are regulated by law and meat and fat are shared communally.
“Pilot whale killing is not much different from killing cattle or anything. It’s that we have an open slaughterhouse,” Hermansen told The Associated Press. “Everyone can see it … but if a cow doesn’t die right away, don’t stop killing cattle.”
White dolphins and pilot whales are not endangered species.
But Read said Sunday’s massacre was “completely indiscriminate. The whole pod is dead and there are pregnant mothers, calves, everything ”. He added that residents used “motor boats and jet skis to chase dolphins and fly whales for hours and hours, they really have no chance of escaping.”
Fisheries Minister Jacob Vestergaard said the book on dolphin hunting all year long. The Faroe Islands – 18 rocky islands halfway between Scotland and Iceland – are semi-independent and part of the Danish kingdom.
—-
David Keyton in Stockholm contributed to this report.