The waves crashed with a red tint on the shore of the Faroe Islands today as hundreds of pilot whales were slaughtered for the annual tradition of ‘Grindadrap.’
The meat from the kill is divided up among the communities of the Faroe Islands, where they have consumed the whale meat for over a thousand years.
Pilot whales are not the only sea creatures killed as a part of their annual tradition; beaked whales and dolphins are also hunted.
The Faroe Islanders have been practicing the tradition carried down from their Viking ancestors for centuries, and show no signs of stopping.
But the way in which the whales die is troubling the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). They say that after the whales’ spines are severed, they are left to bleed to death slowly.
Though whaling is not permitted in Denmark, the Faroe Islands are self-governing and are therefore entitled to abide by their own laws on whaling.
Against Japanese whaling
The Bob Barker anti-whaling ship arrived yesterday at Hobart, Australia, in the lead-up to Japan’s whaling season.
The ship is manned by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and is aiming to prevent the whalers from carrying out their hunt, which the Japanese government has given them another $30 million to carry out.
The Sea Shepherd’s leader Paul Watson says that the Japanese are no longer concerned with the act of whaling, but more about not backing down to the anti-whaling ship.
The same anti-whaling campaign carried out last year had forced the Japanese to return without killing any whales. But this year, they are determined.
The same kind of anti-whaling ship may be able to make a difference in Denmark if it embarked prior to ‘Grindadrap’ next year.
Photo: puttsk
Jody-Lan Castle 
Please become informed. It is not an “annual” tradition. Do you really think pilot whales carry diaries..with an annual entry “must visit the Faroe Islands last week in July, 1st week in August”. Some years there are no pilot whales. Some years there are several pods of pilot whales. So, no annual tradition..this is a myth. They are not hunted, they swim into the shore and locals then catch them by preventing them from swimming away from the shore again. If there are too few in the pod, locals will let them go. Not hunted…another myth sorted. Dolphins are not hunted or killed in the Faroe Islands, only pilot whales, whose numbers are abundant and not a protected species…No Dolphins hunted or killed..another myth busted. If we were dark skinned and running around our islands in grass skirts carrying spears, there would be film crews here drooling over how self sufficient this tribe is in the North Atlantic. Harvesting its natural bounty, bearing in mind it is a group of islands, surrounded by sea, with little land grown vegetation. When the fossil fuels are depleted in the rest of the world and we watch US citizens rioting in the streets and looting supermarkets, because they dont know where else the food comes from, our fellow countrymen will survive, through know how and skill passed down from generation to generation in order to harvest what is surrounding us. It is the natural way. The pilot whale is a fish, yes its a big fish, so we dont have to kill too many, yes there is lots of blood, because the hæmaglobin content is 10 times more than in human blood. Think of the Russian factory ships literally hoovering up millions of tonnes of fish everyday. Think of Japanese whaling vessels actively hunting and killing protected species of whales in the name of research. Have you ever looked at the lifecycle of a salmon, it travels thousands of miles, jumps up waterfalls to get back to its place of birth, exhausted, only to be hoiked out of the river by a hungry bear of a gentrified fly fisherman, but because its not a big black bloody fish, its acceptable. Stop believing the myths, go after the real criminals and maybe sort out the rest of the mad mad world who are crucifying each other and destroying the planet around them and leave us to get on with our model of self sustinence, green energy, safe crime free streets, caring society, fresh air…..get informed and then criticize, we will respect you much more, but we will still maintain our culture and still take no notice of the outside world trying to impose its will, while your society is crumbling around your necks.
Stop this nonsense. Where are the animal rights?
Gosh, this is so awful and all in the name of ‘tradition’! I hope enough awareness is raised so this is stopped 😦
Thanks for posting! It’s important for the world to adapt the attitude that just because this is a tradition of the Faroe Islanders (and a means of food) doesn’t make this right — we don’t continue to allow traditionally cannibal societies to continue to kill humans and we must now allow this slaughter of whales to continue.