Warning: This story contains graphic photographs which depict the reality of whale-hunting in the Faroe Islands. Photographs as well as the language displayed in social media snapshots may be offensive.
Whaling is an issue which is plaguing the international media, and the current saga surrounding the Faroe Islands Grindadrap is headline news. Few would have missed the recent media circus and international outrage surrounding the killing of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands, a practice known locally as the Grindadrap.
Hundreds of pilot whales are slaughtered every year on Faroese shores, and the international community sits horrified as gruesome images circulate depicting the bloody scene.
International organizations rush to the islands to intervene, though many volunteers arrive on the islands ill equip to operate a successful campaign, relying heavily on media hype for facts, and with little understanding of, or willingness to understand, the Faroese culture.
They fail to realize that it is only when you understand something that you can effectively seek to change it.
Understanding the Faroe Islands Grindadrap
Pilot Whale Hunts in the Faroe Islands. Photo CC Nordlysid.fo
There is a lot of misinformation as to the facts of the pilot whale hunts online. Hate speech plagues social media, propaganda quickly spreads, and intentionally created myths circulate, all forming part of an aggressive (and highly counterproductive) campaign to end the pilot whale hunts.
But those who spout hate speech online; those who intentionally promote misinformation, ignorantly take myth for fact, and spread propaganda aiming to smear an entire society in the world media, these people do not achieve a thing, and it this kind of barbaric ignorance which is worse than the slaughter of pilot whales themselves.
The Faroese Culture
The Faroe Islands are a small archipelago of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of Scotland and halfway between Iceland and Norway. The islands are some of the most remote in the world, and as such, have remained largely unchanged by time and uninfluenced by modern societies.
Unchanged by time. The Faroese sharing their catch.
Direct decedents of Vikings, the Faroese are incredibly proud of their cultural heritage. Through plague, 400 years of pirate attacks, trade monopolies, colonial oppression from numerous foreign powers, and braving their harsh oceanic environment, they have stood on the brink of extinction many times and survived.
Their ancient Nordic language has survived and is still spoken to this day, they still row for sport and navigate the ocean on beautiful wooden boats similar to traditional Viking ships, and they continue live largely off the land, killing pilot whales as a source of food.
Pilot whales have been instrumental to the survival of the Faroese people. Severely isolated in the North Atlantic Ocean, through famine, failed harvests and supply shortages (for instance where Danish supply ships were prevented during war), it was once vital that the Faroese were able to provide their own food, and perhaps self sufficiency in their harsh oceanic environment is an ability which they do not wish to lose in a desperate situation.
Gásadalur Waterfall. The mountainous islands and harsh conditions make the Faroes largely unfit for agriculture.
The mountainous islands and harsh conditions of the Faroes are largely unfit for agriculture, and as such, the islanders depended solely on fishing, livestock…and whales.
The Pilot Whale Hunts
The Grindadrap, more commonly referred to as the Grind, is an opportunistic whale hunt which occurs annually in the Faroe Islands.
A non-commercial hunt (the meat is not exported, but kept for themselves and distributed amongst the community as free food), pilot whales are harvested for their meat and blubber and then shared amongst the Faroese community.
This has historically been an important economic relief to the islands, who rely heavily on international imports due to their remote location.
Faroese Pilot Whale Hunts. Photo CC Nordlysid.fo
A whale hunt only occurs when whales are sighted by chance, and close enough to land to drive into the shores of shallow bays and beach.
Faroese animal welfare legislation stipulates animals are killed as quickly and with as little suffering as possible – whales are killed with a spinal lance which is used to sever the spinal cord, simultaneously severing the major blood supply to the brain, meaning a loss of both consciousness and death within seconds.
Pilot whales are not endangered, and with an estimated average of around 1,000 animals killed each year (representing less than 1% of the total estimated pilot whale stock) the hunt is internationally recognized as a sustainable practice.
Health Concerns About Eating Pilot Whale Meat
Like any whale, Pilot Whales are known to accumulate high levels of heavy metals such as mercury, and as such, consumption of whale meat in the Faroe Islands has declined in recent decades due to well documented fears about associated health risks.
It was in 2008 when the Department of Public and Occupational Health recommended that pilot whales no longer be considered fit for human consumption due to the presence of DDT derivatives, PCBs and mercury in the meat, and while this recommendation originally sparked much debate amongst locals, the fact is now undisputed.
“This is the main reason people have stopped eating it” says Rúni Nielsen, food science advisor from the Faroe Islands. “And those who continue eating it don’t believe.”
Pilot whales. Photo CC by Tony Hisgett
Mercury poisoning is often used as a weapon to portray the Faroese as mentally deficient barbarians, and is also in many instances used as a threat. “Maybe a little mercury poisoning is well deserved there. It’s nothing but karma” is a common citation online.
Though have we, sitting in our urban environment, really become so ignorant that we can look past the fact that the whales we are claiming to defend are being poisoned in their natural environment? How can we possibly reprimand and shame the Faroese for animal cruelty when the majority of those pointing the finger continue a lifestyle which contributes to the presence of the mercury in the first place.
And as one Faroese man said, “why is it acceptable for whales to be poisoned with mercury as long as no-one kills and eats them?”.
The Faroese Respect For Nature
So intimately connected with their natural environment, the Faroese have a high respect for nature, and for all animals, including whales.
Animals in the Faroe Islands are treated a lot better than anywhere else in the world, and pilot whales are free right up until the point at which they are killed. The ultimate definition of free range food.
Puffins are often caught as food in the Faroe Islands.
There is no denying that animals are killed, slaughtered and eaten, though they live a very good life before that. They are treated respectfully, and left to roam the islands freely, though the islanders will slaughter them to eat them if they have to. Lives are often dependant on it.
The Faroese value and respect for all animals is one reason behind the preference towards pilot whales. “A lot of Faroese people believe you should not prefer the death of one animal over the death other another animal” says Runi Nielsen to the query as whether the Faroe Islanders consider pilot whales to be higher order animals.
“So it’s like the value of life is not based on the level of understanding or intelligence or nervous system capacity, it’s more about how the value of life is all the same.”
Sheep roaming freely in the Faroe Islands
“A lot of people out in the villages kill their own sheep. If their dog is terminally sick, they shoot their own dog. So it is more or less like the right to live respectfully and die respectfully, so in that sense, for me, there is very little difference between killing a fish which most people eat, or killing a whale or a sheep.
I really can’t see the difference, because it’s one life or another life which you will take. And this intelligent talk about “that animal is more aware than someone else”, for me this is like hypocrisy. I’ve never taken part in a grind, but every time I have to kill a sheep I think “now I’m ending the life of this individual.”
One argument is if you think about a whale for which may weigh many tons, and you think one life, for the equivalent of food and weight, is equal to 500,000 chickens. You’re taking 500,000 lives, or you’re taking the one. So if life is an entity that is equal, no matter if you are this big, or as big as the world, then I think it is much more ethical to kill larger animals than to kill millions of chickens who have terrible lives and are battered etc.”
While the consumption of pilot whale meat is declining, it is important to note that it still represents about a quarter of the meat consumption in the Faroes, and as such remains economically significant. If the Faroese were to stop hunting whales, they would have to catch a lot more fish or kill other animals within their environment as replacement.
International Hypocrisy
Personally, I find it difficult to listen to the bigoted ignorance which is continually spouted online.
“I wish a tsunami would sweep over the islands”; “blood thirsty murderers, the Faroese are barbarians”; “those sick bastards”; “I hope they all die from eating toxic meat”; “Dirty sons of bitches. This disgusting island should rot in hell”.
These are among many of the aggressive and accusatory statements which plague social media – a highly over emotional response which makes finding truth difficult, and finding a solution impossible.
It seems too many people are yelling and screaming about how the Faroese can sleep at night without caring about taking any action to find out how.
These people head to the islands looking to impose their own views upon the Faroese without being willing to sit and listen to what they have to say, or attempt to understand their way of life. This is cultural imperialism at its worst.
Despite popular belief, the Faroese are not blood thirsty murderers or psychopathic killers – they are in fact an incredibly friendly society who actually welcome foreigners, and are very willing to open their doors and cooperate with those who show them respect.
They completely understand that other people’s opinions differ from their own, and are more than willing to discuss any issue openly in a respectful manner. And, should they be presented with convincing enough arguments, many of them are even willing to change their ways. But what they do not respond well to is being demonized and shamed by those who have made no attempt to understand their way of life.
Sea Shepherds presence in the Faroe Islands is overly aggressive and highly counterproductive.
I come from an urban environment with a carbon footprint which is wreaking absolute havoc on the natural world. In fact, it’s the urban lifestyle I lead which is contributing to the mercury which is poisoning pilot whales in the Faroe Islands.
I happily eat meat with no desire to learn more about where it comes from. My lunch meat is most likely the result of factory farming which provides huge amounts of meat in a very cruel way. So how can I, with no knowledge of what it takes to survive in an isolated environment, and worlds away from the source of my food, how can I pass judgment?
How can I dare to judge another society when the treatment of animals in my own country provokes the Faroese in the same way the Grindadrap provokes us? Is this not the highest level of hypocrisy?
Visiting the Faroe Islands to understand before passing judgement.
“What is completely natural for people in the Faroes, seems so alien to other people, who have never lived here – or in similar places – so they can’t possibly understand the Faroese way of life. And thus many of the aspects of this life provokes them”, says Elin Brimheim Heinesen in an article titled “You provide sustenance for yourself with what is available to you.”
“People are often provoked or disgusted by what they don’t understand. To be fair: The Faroese are also themselves sometimes provoked by traditions in other countries. People in the Faroe Islands – a sheepherding country – are, for instance, provoked and even disgusted by the Australian tradition of mulesing merino sheep, which seems very cruel to some.”
Ending the Grind in a Productive and Peaceful Way
There are actually people within the Faroe Islands who are fighting against the grind. Locals who do not believe it should continue.
There are also a large number of conservationists who arrive with an open mind ready to facilitate peaceful dialogue aimed at education and awareness about the consequences of continuing the tradition.
Organizations such as the New Zealand based Earthrace Conservation Society recognize the problems inherent in a confrontational and aggressive approach, and are working together with local islanders to end the Grind in a peaceful manner.
They are working to change the way the Faroese view pilot whales as food, and promote tourism and a whale watching industry as an alternative economic relief. THIS is how the grind will end.
There are many valid points as to why the grind should end, however those who spread hatred and attempt to attack the reputation of an entire nation without a thought for how to peacefully approach the situation do absolutely no good.
Provocative anti-whaling activist campaigns such as those mounted by the Sea Shepherd are highly counterproductive and merely strengthen the desire of Faroese nationalists to fight harder to preserve their cultural heritage. Hell, they make even me want to rally behind the Faroese whalers.
Conclusion
Pilot whales no longer need to be hunted in the Faroe Islands, and what was once a tradition vital to survival is now largely continued as an emotional attachment to cultural heritage.
Whether or not you believe the Faroese Grind should end depends upon many different factors. It depends on how greatly you weigh the loss of a cultural tradition against the loss of an animal species. It requires weighing culture against conservation.
Though those seeking to see an end to the pilot whale hunts first need to learn the real facts, and then support local islanders who are working towards a peaceful resolution. Listen and understand what you’re dealing with before taking action.
Understand what you’re dealing with before taking action.
Because those actually concerned with putting a stop to the Faroese Grind are not on the islands bearing pickets. Those actually concerned are not making a difference by spreading hate.
Those actually concerned about putting a stop to the Faroese Grind are bright enough to have gained an understanding of the grind, appreciate the background and history behind it, and land in the Faroe Islands ready to promote education of the negative consequences of continuing this tradition.
Only after you truly understand something can you fight to put an end to it. Only when you understand where someone is coming from can you form an appeal to change their opinion.
International pressure will not stop the Faroese Grind. The Islands have prospered isolated from the outside world for centuries, and will continue to do so if they must. It is for this reason too, that a travel boycott to the islands is counterproductive.
The islands have prospered isolated from the world for centuries.
While tourism is beginning to take a larger and larger role in the Faroese economy, it’s not a make or break. The grind will only stop when the Faroese people want it to, and therefore, the only way conservationists can make a difference is by promoting continued education, and cooperating to change thought and opinion.
An entire culture will not change overnight. And you certainly cannot bully an entire society, or attempt to bend them to your will and believe this will prove instantly effective. Yes, there are many ways to expedite change, though only with the correct approach.
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92 Comments
Great article explaining both sides of this. I had no idea and really appreciate this perspective!
Megan, this is the best article you’ve written! As a Dane, I am grateful that you’re discussing the subject from an unbiased perspective and urging people to have the right approach if they wish to make a change. Instead of passing judgement – which is SO easy – they should take responsibility and try to make a difference in a productive way. Like you said, this is a matter of cultural traditions and these are simply not changed over night!
This is wrong,point blank and it needs to be stopped! Tradition is no excuse for brutally murdering innocent creatures! So sick of people defending this barbaric, disgusting act
Great article Meg! People are so quick to jump to conclusions without getting the history or real story behind it. Here in Canada there is a lot of backlash against Inuit hunts..and yet people don’t realize that literally every piece is used.
Really well written article! I really hope that we can work with the people of Faroe Islands to end the slaughter of whales. I would hope that these traditions would eventually be phased out, hopefully as younger generations come to realize that it is wrong to kill them. While I don’t fully agree that everything that Sea Shepherd does there is for nothing (sometimes international pressure can be a good thing; while it may not directly impact the end of the grindadrap, it can bring awareness to people from around the world who may otherwise wouldn’t have heard about this), I think that working with the people peacefully to hopefully change hearts and minds works better in this instance.
Thanks for the great article! This is the first I’ve heard of the Grind, so I found it highly informative. It seems like the message can be summed up in one word: listen.
I enjoyed your article very much.
Very good article that tells both sides of the story. We sells Faroe at the company I work and we get to deal with questions like these a lot … I’ll there for leave my opinion in the middle this time.
That’s an excellent post Meg! I always try to hear both sides of the story and even if this sounds and looks just cruel and gives me shivers I try to understand as it’s part of the culture on Faroe Islands… Still I wouldn’t like to see it on my own…
What a well balanced view. It’s great to read an article that is not full of vitriol and is well reasoned. Do we have any right to impose our culture on any other culture any where? I don’t think we do.
I’m an animal lover and I hate to see animals slaughtered. But at the same time, I really don’t understand the hypocrisy behind all these hype targeting a small community doing something which is part of their culture while most of these people who post hate comments across social media think that the chicken they eat come from supermarket freezer.
On what basis do You infer that people hating Grind eat chicken? I can assure You, that most of them are vegetarians.
And by the way: “killing” and “culture” don’t go together.
I am very glad to read such a clever and understanding article, but there is a ,,undertone” that the grindslaughter must stop one day. I do not really understand why, I hear no real arguments why? The only reasone can be that the grind as a spieces is not going to survive. Fact is, that we have to kill to survive ourselves, and grind is one of the few meatsources that we have here in the Faroe Islands and it is sustainable. But they are intelligent some say, ł,well are not many other animals that are killed and noone protestsprotests intelligent? cows, pigs, horses even rats are said to be very intelligent! But they are beautiful and cute! Well are many other animals killed around the world not beautiful and cute? e.g. many of the 58 billiones of animals killed only in US for food every year, some of them must be beautiful and cute? But it is barbaric! Well the barbarisem is, that it is done in the open just in front of everyone, not hidden behind walls like in the urbanized world, but does that make it more barbaric?
:-).
Whether the grind is legal is questionable in the light of the EU law. And definitely no: the Faroese people cannot do whatever they want to – because they are not the only humans living on the planet.
“There are good people within the Faroe Islands who are fighting against the grind.”
This is my issue with you people. The unspoken message here is that those who do not want to end the hunt are somehow not “good people”. Coupled with the unquestioned assumption that people on the other side of the planet have any right whatsoever to try to stop the sustainable humane and traditional harvest of a natural resource by a culture they have no knowledge of, I find your smug cultural imperialism and judgmentalism to be infuriating. Bunch of misanthropes feeding your egos off the backs of innocent people.
The Faroese are doing nothing wrong, despite what it looks like to ill informed eyes. It is a beautiful thing, and rare in the Western world, for communities to come together to sustainably harvest a natural resource and share the harvest among themselves. It strengthens the bonds of community and gives their children a solid ethnic identity, something you perhaps cannot understand.
It is offensive in the extreme to see this kind of cultural imperialism, and I have to question your motives. Regardless of the tone of this article, more respectful than most, I am nauseated by your smug sense of moral superiority and the self justification that tells you you have a right to do this. You should be ashamed.
Killing endangered, intelligent and helpless species is not a harvest, it’s a massacre. It is not sustainable either, because oceans are dying. People fighting against the grind are not misanthropes, they just understand all the consequences.
You state that it is “sustainable” harvesting, but it is not. In 30 years the Pilot Whale population has gone from almost 800,000 to 200,000. Why can’t they farm, breed and eat their meat, like everyone else? Times change and we all need to adapt.
What an experience, great photos and thanks for explaining the tradition behind it. The islands are on our bucket list!
This is one of the most balanced articles about whaling in the Faroe Islands, that I have seen written by a non Faroese person.
I was starting to think that there where no reasonable people out there in the world. I think that the key phrase that I got from your article, that best describes that Sea Shepherd is doing in the Islands is this: “This is cultural imperialism at its worst”.
What they (SS) don’t understand, is that they offend almost 100% of the Islanders by there actions. Even those that didn’t participated in the Grind and where more neutral and maybe thought, that we should stop killing pilot whales. These people now want to continue it, because of SS. Cause as just said it your self…..they are trying to force there values on us with no respect for our culture/values.
The issue if we should stop the Grind had been up for serious discussion/debate for a few years before SS started there campaign. With talk of banning it by law, because of research in mercury pollution, and what it does to children/people. But now the debate is dead, and there is a large majority again, that wants to continue the Grind.
Anyways….thanks for a very good article. All the best from me.
Jákup
The article is very interesting but it seems a bit onesided. In the grind – the whale and dolpin pods are killed, the whole family units – mothers, young and old also pregnant females. I would hope that the faraose people are intelligent enough to realize that this is not a substainable practice. There can be no population maintainance if all the young breeding animals are killed. Please include information about who varifies the worlds popualtion of pilot whales and dolphins(other than what the IWC gives out, estimates in their favor)Wiki estimates there are only 200,000 left. Another question, why would any mother give it to her child or eat it herself if she knows it could harm her unborn children. The contaminated flesh contains lead and mercury and pbc = not fit to eat? It is mind boggling. Yes centuries ago they lived from whale flesh, but now it is not healthy – why continue with the brutality?
Thank you Cindy, I completely agree with you!
http://www.whaling.fo/media/1043/hfs-uk_0.pdf
Please read the info on the above link.
We live in world full of contaminants unfortunately.
Thank you
Thank you for this article. It helped me understand why they do what they do.
Curious what is done with the meat if humans usually do not consume it? Fed to pigs, dogs, etc. Buried? Allowed to rot onshore?
this is a very well-written article Megan. I read the one on Green Global a while back. I had a friend message me today about this. He was horrified and I didn’t know what to tell him. I love whales more than anything. I am just saddened all around, but I try not to make snap judgments and I would never say anything so harsh toward people from any culture. I hope there is no unnecessary cruelty shown toward Any person or animal. I don’t think this is too much to expect of our fellow human beings. I wish it were true.
Meg, I also find your article well-articulated. I visited the Faroe Islands last year and found the people to be, as you point out, friendly and welcoming.
I also know that the cost of getting to the Faroes is really not in the budget for most travelers, especially those on limited time schedules who are going to spend their time in places that there is more to do, such as Paris or Tokyo. So, I don’t really see how tourism will ever be that big of a part of their national income.
Also, I lived in Alaska for eight years, and like the Canadian Inuit, Native Alaskans are allowed to hunt Bowhead whales. Bowhead whales are on the endangered list, but due to culture and subsistence, even the US and International governments respect their rights to hunt.
I am a lover of all animals, am not a vegetarian, and like you’ve pointed out, hope that all animals and humans are treated with respect.
Well, you should start by not judging those who oppose the slaughter if you argue that the Faroe Islands are unjustly judged internationally. What do you think about laws like the “Faroese whaling act”? What do you think about Denmark using the navy against civilians? What do you think about the Faroe Islands deporting EUROPEANS? Have you seen the blood thirsty frenzy? Do you think that humans acting that way are civilized?
Thank you very much for this article!! It is really well written and it really got me to understand the Faroe culture and the reasons behind the Grind. I had no idea of what was at stakes for those people back in the day, I live in France and the only way we hear about this island is to say “look at them, they are barbarians”. Thank you for this, it helped me put everything into perspective and I think you are totally right : most of us are hypocrites because we live a not so perfect lifestyle either, treating animals like shit to satisfy our always growing desire of meat! Great job there :)
this is not the right way to take food. say what you want but you’re murderers.. you show the crudelty of this tradition and I think is more important save species than an old tradition. in these pictures we can see happy kids for the death of these dolphins in the middle of a sea of blood
the world use the same aggression which faroese use to kill dolphins
who criticised faroese is who fight for the respect of animals in their own countries.. we’re not hypocrite, we’re disgusted
This is a well written article that looks fairly at both sides of a situation. On one hand we have people who needed the grind to survive, and as you say in harsh conditions. I think you did very well explaining this but I can see that it has stirred up some very volatile reactions. Unlike the dentist and the lion, this is not done for sport, if that is what you would even call it, it is done for cultural and historical attachments. However … as Grindadrap is no longer needed commercially, sensitive discussions do need to occur.
I have read your article with great interest. You have some good points but for me the main issue is when you hunt for plesure. It´s hard to se the men smiling in the film, walking around in the blood. It´s one thing to kill for food and one thing to kill for plesure or culture reasons. If you want to bee treated with respect as an community then you have to behave in a respectable way. I se no reason to have other expectations upon the Faroes people because of there history or location. It´s about development. Me myself is from Sweden and you should all be glad that i´m not still a “viking”! ;-)
Wow! Really interesting and thought-provoking post. On the outset, it does come across upsetting and barbaric (especially the graphic photos the media often circulate), however I’m always hesitant to judge someone else’s culture that we do not fully understand. You shed a whole lot of light on the Faroese culture, tradition and way of life that, like you said, we need to understand and empathise with before jumping to angry judgements. In light of the decline of its necessity, and the potential health implications related to it, I do hope that the Grindadraps will cease in the future. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent article Meg, it carries the message everyone should learn and understand – don’t judge before you either visit the country or learn about the culture. Unfortunately many people’s judgement is based on a fuss through social media which are not sharing the bigger picture. My last thought about this – sharing, sharing and more sharing articles like this!
I finally sat down to read this.
I always find it hard to judge other cultures way of doing things, and whilst I don’t necessarily like the practice, I also don’t think it’s my place to wax lyrical about how it’s wrong.
Especially since folk here happily eat meat of animals they know have been herded up and sent to an abattoir lined up and hearing the sounds of gunshots whilst they wait in line for their fate. Or knowing that those fat chickens you buy in the supermarket have been fattened up so much for meat they have broken legs (just look at a chicken leg next time you eat chicken and you’ll see it for yourself).
I’m not even vegetarian (well, most of the time), I just work with food….
Gunshots in an abattoir? Do you live under a rock?
Hi Meg,
It is understandable that you see the media coverage as one-sided. I do also understand why people are against the hunt. The kind of animal killed is not wholly irrelevant I think – after all, then, we could be eating humans too. Whales are still not human, of course. Some points here are more than fair, I think. Firstly, this is done for food and there is a good reason for this tradition. Things have changed, yes, so it might be abandoned but still. Secondly, I do agree that, while it looks gruesome, it is less so than a slaughterhouse. I remember going to a local farmer with a friend to slaughter a sheep for our consumption. It is drastic but I felt a very deep sense of gratitude to the animal and connection. Now, if you’re a vegetarian/vegan, fair enough, you can still criticize killing an animal and there isn’t really anything much I can say to morally defend it. Yet, the Grind hunt is definitely less atrocious than the mass murder of animals all over the world in an industrialised fashion. This, methinks, in an answer to Ulrika, is probably due to it being an old ‘Viking’ (or not) tradition, which shows more respect to animals than modern industrialised production. While ‘Viking’ traditions can change in accordance with changed conditions of availability of food… I’d much rather be archaic than an overly sanitized neo-Swede.
The faroe island and their civilians can burn in hell!!!
That is obviously a very hateful comment. However to say that is worse than the slaughter of pilot whales themselves is only true if you are a human and not one of the whales being slaughtered. I do believe to kill for survival is absolutely ethical. I also believe there is no difference in killing a whale or a pig or a lamb or a dog for food. All are living beings that I believe have emotions and a right to live happily, and they experience pain when they die. I do, however, believe all humans, no matter where they live, need to consider the unnecessary pain and suffering they inflict on animals and choose not to participate in it. Unless necessary for our own survival, I believe all suffering we inflict on innocent beings is equally egregious. To “enjoy” it or do anything to increase the suffering of other beings is absolutely barbaric. I believe if we are to inhabit a planet with other living breathing feeling creatures that we are going to kill and eat, we need to think about where that food comes from and make conscious decisions about how we eat. I think eating lunch meat with no thought about where it comes from- or who suffered and died for it- is not a humane way to consume animals. I am, by the way, mostly vegan, always vegetarian. Compared to other animals killed and eaten, the Faroese killing of whales who have lived free in the wild for necessary food does seem better for the environment and obviously causes suffering to fewer beings. But to those animals who suffer and die it is as important as the suffering endured by any animals raised or hunted or killed for food. And while we shouldn’t throw stones at other cultures, all humans should examine their own behavior and choices and their impact on the pain and suffering of innocent animals, who have just as much of a desire and right to live as we humans do. Culture – whether bullfighting or bloody animal sacrifice or whale hunting – in my opinion is not a justifiable reason to kill animals.
Whalewatching and whaling coexist in Norway, that could also be done in the Faroe Islands. However I don’t think whaling is the largest problem, marine pollution is the main problem even if the Grind stops the pollution is still there and as long as the Grind is still an active part of the culture and traditions of the Faroe Islands the focus can and should be turned towards the pollution. when that is sorted out you can start thinking of stopping the whaling. as of now the whaling is not a problem at all they only kill 0.1% of the population.
Interesting article, but I never understand the problems these foreigners address. If the whales are full of mercury and lead, then the hunting would seize at some point, wouldn´t it? Most of the campaigns from Sea Shepherd were about killing for fun and the meat will be thrown out to birds. Actually Paul Watson started his grindshow in 1986. Nothing has changed, but we now now that hes in it for the money. Pete Bethune and Ady Gil have been to the Faroes, explaining to people what kinda con he is. He only wants to create disturbances to satisfy his Hollywood sponsors. Mostly degenerated B-actors like Pamela Anderson. Im not impressed by all this nonsense. But in 1986 there was no internet, in 2015 the people of the Faroe Islands can respond on the international social media. And those people Watson ships to the Faroes are not able to discuss any issue, their minds are one way controlled. This is surreal. Reminds me of the first Zappa song on Apostrophe, about the lead filled snow shoes.
I found this article as I have been a Sea Shepherd supporter for a long time and was hoping to find something substantial that could help me understand why this slaughter keeps occurring. Although your article has a pleasant tone, there is nothing pleasant about this slaughter, and if these men are killing the animals and then giving the meat away, they clearly don’t need it for themselves. There is, as you point out, no healthy reason to continue the slaughter. I’m not sure what you think the Sea Shepherd organization is spreading about the hunt, but as a casual follower of their organization and a supporter, all I see are photographs for the hunt and the message that in spite of all compassion and reason the hunt continues. That’s all I really need to know to be part of the international pressure on the islands for this to stop. I agree with you that verbal abuse online isn’t productive, but you must also understand how appalling this looks to the rest of the world. It is a stain on the reputation and culture of the Faroe people and they should stop it.
Wow. This is an article that at first glance seems incredibly balanced, insightful and full of great and important information about a controversial topic.
That’s not the point. Anyone can write a balanced,insightful article about any heinous, inhuman action and bleed all morality, global conscience and ultimate truth right out of it. You could probably have penned a wonderful yarn about slavery (culture and commerce vs.murder,torture and genocide?), Hitler’s Final Solution (see above), traditional foot binding( torture,misogyny and sexual violence) or female circumcision ( again, see above) and have people nodding and saying, “hey, that doesn’t sound so bad.”
I get it. You can write. You can research and put facts together in a string that people can wear and kind of feel better about their choices around the destruction of sentient beings, I will never change my mind on seeing this slaughter as anything more than murder. But you really lost me at your ignorant, and frankly embarrassing, irresponsible assertion that nobody has the right to tell the Faroese what to do on ‘their land’. Dude. Guess what. Using that line of argument, it’s the pilot whales’ ocean. And thank God you weren’t around to talk people out of ending slavery, fighting back against Jewish extermination or standing up against the oppression of the LGBT community.
Dig yourself out of your revert of privilege and join the human race, and every other lifeform that deserves to live on whatever planet we have left.
You have to admit that the argument that the whales shouldn’t be poisoned with mercury rings a little false from people arguing that they should have their spinal cords severed with knives. The logic is tortured.
Poorly written and even more poorly reasoned. The pilot whales belong to themselves, not to the Faroese barbarians. Murdering cetaceans should stop immediately, and is to be condemned.
Human race is so arrogant to believe that everything on earth belongs to it? Good. This is why it is doomed to exinction. In Italy there’s a town where once a year, for tradition, people shoot an ham. But stupid traditions remains stupid traditions. I don’t think this is about imperialism or whatever you said early, it’s about doing the right thing. 3000 millions people around the world dying for malnutrition, but “first world countries” feed chickens and pigs instead of children. This is just unbelievable. Is irrational, isnt it? If every field on the planet were destinated to human food, theres no more hungry people. This is a scientific and demostrable fact. Grindadrap is only a piece in this sick model of food consumption.
Hi Megan. What I said is part of a bigger talk, yes, but it’s indeed inherent to what you wrote in your article.
We live in a modern world, where exist a strong and evolved system of logistic and transportation of goods. Everything can arrive at the other side of the world. I think Faroese people take advantage of this system, importing what a modern human being need. Why have it to be different with their food?
Here nobody says that raise animals for slaughtering is a good nor ethical practice. And yes, I agree with you, probably from a rational point of view Grindadrap is sustainable (probably, because the links of IUCN you have posted they have very confused or no data at all), but you have also to agree with me that Faroese people don’t need whales to survive in 2015, like we don’t need animals from husbandry.
Also, you are confusing countries with peoples when you wrote about imperialism and western countries. I’m not aware of any government that sentence Grindadrap, people do.
I believe every single word you wrote, I believe that Faroese people respect nature and animals from their point of view, which is made from their ancient traditions. But animals are not objects, they feel emotions and they have a soul like us. We are at the top of food chain and we decide who lives and who dies, and I think that this great responsability need to be driven by ethical thinking instead of industrial or economical one.
In 2015 there’s no real reason to hunt whales for survival. So, I’m sorry, but in my opionion stupid traditions remain stupid traditions.
Hello,
I think your article is terribly biased and naive. I understand your point, yet I totally do not agree.
You end up your article by saying that the grind doesn’t need to happen anymore but since it’s an emotional tradition, it takes time and convincing to end it. No, my friend. Faroe people are adults and a civilized world and need to apply international law as everybody did.
I don’t think that in 2015 an endangered species should succumb to what you define as a “shepherd community” just because it’s an ancient tradition and it’s legal in a small country.
It is NOT legal in the EU. Faroe is in the EU. Denmark is in the EU and supports it with its military and police. Personally I think it’s savage and it has to stop but it’s the international law that really matters.
today is just a disgusting tradition.
no excuse
Dear writer you write “without attempt to understand their way of life. This is cultural imperialism at its worst”
There are no needs to understand something not legal. They can have all traditions possible, but those has to be LEGAL.
There are governments, whose job,is to make laws and to make those respected.
There is really no justification in understanding their culture, as it is not legal..would be enough that police, instead of join to this grindadrap, had their job done!
Thank you so much for your article, it really cleared my vision about this phenomenon. As you said, there is a lot of misinformation and we need to understand both point on views.
Thanks,
Bruno
You are uncivilized and barbaric people ? killer. Stop the horror!!! Your country is not nice because the people are orrible.
Amazing article Megan! I was looking for an unbiased and well-researched article to combat the typical “this is barbaric!” post. And found this one!
I think there will always still be people who will not understand other cultures. I love how the Faroese have kept their traditions alive, despite modernization in other areas. I think they’re probably better off for it… When in the US/UK, we barely see how our food is processed, and it’s full of preservatives and barely even ‘food’ anymore… I agree, it’s easy for people to be upset with things they don’t understand. This is like how the US/UK eat cattle, but in India it’s mostly sacred. Or how in India, China, Korea, etc, they might eat dogs, cats, guinea pigs, but Americans especially feel this is barbaric. We cannot place our own worldview on other cultures.
Also, I think a lot of your commentators are missing that you’ve had correspondence with at least one real Faroese person? (Correct me if I’m wrong.)
Anyways, great work. And also great work arguing in the comments! Hehe.
El articulo esta bien escrito, es informativo.Pero cosas como estas no se pueden justificar, tan crueles y desagradables.Sigue siendo una masacre,es el sufrimiento de otro ser vivo y ninguna tradicion que sea realmente “humana” puede causar tanto dolor a otro ser viviente…Da tristeza, verguenza y pena.
I notice while your article is very well balanced regarding Faoese culture it ignores the whales well being and the fact that they are hugely sentient creatures and on a par with humans at an emotional level if not higher.
I read your article and it made me want to avoid the Faroe Islands. Sorry. I know you are trying to promote reasoned, rational discussion on the topic. It just makes me feel uneasy knowing I’d be going to a place that feels so comfortable with such brutality. I do respect the honesty though. As well as the Faroese defiance (not sure if that’s the right word!) and unwillingness to bend in the face of international pressure. That’s really admirable and makes me realize this is extremely important to the islanders. Just the blood filled Fjords are a major turnoff. And to be clear, I’m vegan and don’t use animal products at all so maybe I’m the total exception. I hope it turns out OK. And I think, despite your comments above, you are indeed ignoring what the whales go through. As sentient beings they just be terrified during the grind, waiting for their death. It seems like there is no empathy for these creatures. That makes me sad. But like I said, I’m the minority.
Actually Megan you didn´t address the issue of the sentient nature of whales and the method of killing which is far from clean and the hook used rarely kills cleanly and instantly and the whales suffer. As an example of sentientness of cetaceans a female dolphin in Taji was witnessed deliberately committing suicide after her calf was captured and yet you make justifications based on outdated traditions for their killing. Re-reading your article I find a bit more of an naïve apologist view of the traditions.
The killing methods of any animal if it must be done should be as humane as possible so as to limit their suffering which doesn´t happen in the Grind. As someone ´has worked and lived in remote regions of Africa and very close to traditional societies I would find it hard to find any who rejoices as much in the wholesale slaughter of another creature. In fact many societies which would be considered far more primitive than the Forese which slaughter animals believe it wrong to cause unnecessary suffering. Are you also aware that the Faorese government inacted a law obliging everyone including visiting tourists to report sighting of whales and failure to do so would result in criminal prosecution?…Have you ever been in the water with wild whales or dolphins?.
il tuo articolo è sconcertante! giustificare una barbarie come quella della grindadrap giustificandola con la parola cultura, è di un ignoranza spaventosa, un po come accettare la lapidazione delle donne nei paesi mussulmani più arretrati, perchè è la loro tradizione, la loro cultura!rispondi a tutti allo stesso modo, ossia paragonando le balene a maiali polli e bovini trucidati ogni giorno. si in effetti è la stessa cosa, sono da condannare tutti questi atti di violenza allo stesso modo!!!e c’è gente che lo fa ogni santissimo giorno combatte l’ignoranza e combatte gli ignoranti come te per salvare gli animali e la natura. parli di ipocrisia nel tuo articolo ma non hai ancora scoperto chi è la più grande ipocrita! sei tu la vera ipocrita signora megan!!! tu che dici di amare gli animali e giustifichi la loro uccisione, tu che con una mano li accarezzi e con l’altra li accoltelli!!gli animali da amare non sono solo quelli domestici o quelli che secondo te sono carini da vedere! gli animali son tutti uguali e vanno rispettati in quanto esseri viventi! nella tua risposta risparmiati i parallelismi e la storiella del pollo surgelato al supermercato perchè io non mangio gli animali, sono una persona che ha fatto dell’etica la sua ragione di vita e dell antispecismo la sua lotta! ah e per ultima cosa volevo chiederti di portare rispetto per le grandi persone di sea shepherd che ogni giorno rischiano la propria vita per quella dei più deboli!!!fai un favore all’umanità chiudi questo blog e smettila di dire bugie a chi ti segue
Dear Meg
Good day
Very nice article, I never imagine those details which many times lead me to a common tough over the actions of islanders.
I have being many places, Denmark among them, so as they are a very friendly people I could not believe this may be an act of aggression or low educated people.
Now is clear to me and fully understandable, in fact they had survive and developing their place even in such remote location. Fact I would like we ( south-american) could realize considering we have so blessing,rich and vast lands.
A Peruvian living in Brazil.
Best Regards
This is a great article about the grind very well explained, personally I think the faroes people have every right to sustainably hunt pilot whales! They are not hunting for sport but for consumption. I don’t understand what give the right for Paul Watson and pamela Anderson to impose on these people where they have no right.I come from Scotland and can remember whale hunting from parts of scotland, obviously in Scotland it was commercial hunting which was taking place and I can understand the EU ban for commercial whale hunting, but for the faroe islands I think these people should be left alone to get on with there lives not hassled of the rest of the world.
I have quite a few issues with your article, but I’ll just pick up on a couple:
“The islands are some of the most remote in the world, and as such, have remained largely unchanged by time and uninfluenced by modern societies.”
With daily flights from Scotland, Copenhagen and Reykjavik, and being only 200 or so miles from Scotland, one could hardly rank the Faroes some of the most remote in the world. I think you’ll find the Pacific teeming with islands far more remote.
As far as “largely unchanged by time”, I would argue that having the very best 4g mobile network in the world with almost 100% coverage, Burger King, fancy restaurants and supermarkets in almost every village and a plethora of fancy cars, new tunnels with automatic tolling systems etc. etc. hardly makes the Faroes stuck in the dark ages now does it?
“the islanders depended solely on fishing, livestock…and whales” And imported Kangaroo, Buffalo, Bison, Crocodile and Ostrick, all of which are readily available in the freezer section of Torshavn’s biggest supermarket, Miklagarður in the SMS shopping centre.
I don’t necessarily disagree with all you have to say about the Grindarap, but it’s a bit disingenuous to paint the Faroes as a simple, medieval-themed place. It has one of the highest GDPs in Europe and serves some of the best Espressos I’ve ever tasted.
The compassion for animals is no more or less lacking than in the rest of the Western world, I agree with you there. But my issue rests purely with the implication that the Faroese live such a simple, Amish-esque lifestyle.
This is one of the most neutral and well informed articles I have ever read about this topic. Well done! As a citizen of another whaling nation, Norway, and who’s grown up on a farm in a small conservative fishing/hunting society, I like to speak in favor of the Faroe Islands. So this great article made my day. This topic is all about the will to listen, learn and respect, regardless of your personal opinion.
I grew up learning and accepting the fact that the animals in our backyard was food and not pets. Every dinner I ate had names, and I knew very well that tomorrow it could be Rosemary or Donald Duck for dinner. The past few years, people have harassed me because of my liberal farmers view on what is food and what is not. But I always think, to hell with it. In Western-Norway, where I live, it is not uncommon to serve the entire animal so that nothing is wasted.
And you are absolutely correct, the more hatred – the more whaling. The hypocrite vegan social media propaganda that presents animals as cute, sensitive and more conscious than humans only makes us want to continue. Peeta attacks people who slaughter animals and eat meat, but yet they euthanize a vast majority of the animals they receive because “it’s better that way”…
My grandfather is a retired whale and seal hunter. He told me that after every kill, he reflected deeply on his actions. He says that; “Yes of course, it is a horrific sight, but it is a necessity and the price you have to pay to survive. Whales are big animals, big animals means big hearts and big hearts means alot of blood.” This is the point where people fail to listen, because they’re not used to see this much blood at once. We grew up with this, so of course we’re going to seem less disturbed by it on the outside as we are accustomed to it.
We’re people shaped by the nature we live in. I’m lucky to live in a remote place surrounded by wild nature, where we both learn and see that meat does not come from the supermarket. Even our own fellow (vegan) Norwegians living in the large cities try to fight the local way of living, just because they don’t like or understand it. Little did they realise that the burger they just ordered, or the sausages they just purchased was produced in the remote districts. Little did they realise that we’re the only reason why cities like Oslo is not on the verge of collapse because they don’t know how to feed themselves.
Really well-written article!
one thing stood out to me was the claim of fast and humane killing! In EVERY video I have ever seen it is anything but! It is horrific and barbaric….” whales are killed with a spinal lance which is used to sever the spinal cord, simultaneously severing the major blood supply to the brain, meaning a loss of both consciousness and death within seconds.” This paragraph is not worth the paper it’s written on! total and utter bullshit!!
I’m always sorry to see that the argument is still more about the feelings and wants of the humans involved, rather than the rights of an animal-any animal- not to be driven down and slaughtered. The whales don’t know or care about any of this cultural psychology.
They have their own.
They just want to live. They don’t have time for us to figure out how to avoid stepping on toes and hurting ‘feelings’.
We need to grow up an evolve.
Thoughtful article, though. Thank you.
It’s 2018. Wooden boats hunting few whales are now helicopter mass deportation. 1605 dead. Meat isn’t eaten or low %/whale.
Hypocrisy ? People are also fighting against slaughterhouses. Sea Shepherd is vegan. Again, Faroese aren’t even eating them (and don’t need to), so in anyways it’s worse. Moreover comparing isn’t making it disappear, acceptable nor less barbaric.
The only point left is Tradition.
Problem is : if you can’t even recognize it’s barbarism then why would you change ?
Stop claiming like a child “You’re doing the same, it’s tradition, this is not barbaric”.
So a responsible adult needs to point the finger and say it’s wrong. Hard to hear but so it is.
And one day they’ll have to change. Because, contrary to viking times and what you said, they aren’t self-sufficient anymore standing alone against 7 oceans and 7 curses. They are helped by Danemark for grindadráp. And financially by European Commission through Danemark.
You shouldn’t write against slaughter-shaming, because you’re strengthening the idea grindaràp is not barbarism.
There is nothing to learn in your article. Faroese once had a need but we’re in 2018. To compair is stupidly useless because people are already fighting slaughterhouses and at least chicken/beef feeds the others. And finally, slow peacefully internal attempts aren’t working as 2017 was a record of dead.
Shouldn’t generalize about Faroese and grindaràp ? Ideologically true, but it creates awareness and strong fighting. Nothing else has proven any change.
So : why ? Why your article ?
“Moreover comparing isn’t making it disappear, acceptable nor less barbaric.”
Hypocrisy ? It’s not because those who aren’t doing a thing for land-meat, as you suggest, that grindaràp is less barbaric.
Cultural imperialism ? Fighting against slaughter, on land as in water is just the good thing. No matter your reasons.
I see what you mean with “imperialism” and tradition, in your mind it’s as legit as your right to write. But here again you’re wrong. As you aren’t writing for yourself, as you aren’t living alone on earth you have to take responsibility for what you do.
I landed on your page because I wanted to understand the global picture of grindaràp. I just saw bullshit completely beside topic. As your answer to my message, totally beside each of my point. You just speaking about annex thing without solving question/problem.
This is why you should write just for yourself. Let’s be honest, if you have 10 views a day it’s because you’re the only one who “defends” grindaràp.
I’m sorry and angry because you and readers you enlightened honestly feel involved and believe thinking right. But you’re just watching to something else : meat eaters, hypocrisy, wooden boats, Faroese nature…
Lovely, but this is no defense. So again, stop write defense where apparently you’re unable to. You’re just saying violence against animals is ok. Try to think before writing. It’s because of you things aren’t evolving.
Again beside and not understanding. Can’t fight ignorance. Sorry world.
I do agree with you Tahiti it’s 2021 now and 1428 dolphins were slaughtered. The world i a cruel place …
My heart hurts when I see animal in pain :(
We will be travelling to the Faroe Islands next summer and I came to your article on trying to understand the issue. Very nice article, with a lot of information and a nuanced opinion. It is refreshing to see a topic discussed in this way and the approach you took in this article would be very helpful in many other topics as well!
I also don’t like to see these images. But definitely the visual effect plays a great role here. As far as I understand, it is actually quite a sustainable way of fishing (both the number of whales being taken compared with the total population as the way of catching them). Many other practices (such as fishing with trawler nets, overfishing, bycatch, fishing on young fish…) are way more damaging and more disturbing to me. Also whales have been heavily overhunted, which is why strong protection measures have been extremely important. So I completely agree that the Grindadrap is worth discussing, but the way the Faroes are shamed is inappropriate.
Thank you for the nice article and I wish you many more beautiful travels!
I am very sorry but I think that I disagree with you. Tell me if I misunderstood your post. I feel like you did not understand why people are so mad about this “cultural” thing. If they’re impolite it’s maybe because this culture is not fair and that it’s too much violence for nothing. I get it that it’s cultural but well… We are not from the prehistoric time now. People are changing and some want to make our planet a better place. You know that our planet need it! I don’t get how killing them can be legal. And see how they do it publicly, in family, with their children like it’s Christmas day. Honestly this is very shocking! I am so sad to see this and I don’t think it’s fair. People often think that they can do wathever they want to animals but I disagree. We should leave them alone! Maybe for you it’s not something shocking but imagine if you were at their place? Imagine being killed for the pleasure of people. That’s so violent! Human always are shocked when it’s about human cruelty but never when it’s about animals. It’s sad! Well after all it’s your opinion but I am disappointed about your opinion on this tradition.
With all my respect,
M.
“I happily eat meat with no desire to learn more about where it comes from. My lunch meat is most likely the result of factory farming which provides huge amounts of meat in a very cruel way. So how can I, with no knowledge of what it takes to survive in an isolated environment, and worlds away from the source of my food, how can I pass judgment?”
You happily eat meat from factory farms where it has been abused and tortured and fed garbage for a good amount of it’s life?
WHY?
I DON’T.
Take some responsibility for yourself and your actions. It is ALL of our responsibilities to PAY ATTENTION to where our food comes from, and not promote torture and mistreatment of animals. Fine if you want to eat meat (preferably only a few times a week or less), but do your best to make sure those animals were treated well and lived good lives. It’s just simple RESPECT and DECENCY. RESPECT for a creature that has given it’s life so that you could eat.
HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR LIFE. Humans are not seperate from life or our planet, we are PART of life, we are part of our planet and our ecosystem. We happen to be the most powerful species on Earth, which means it is our RESPONSIBILITY to take care of our home, and live in HARMONY with our beautiful planet and the other beings we share it with.
That is the main problem in the world today, we don’t respect our planet, we don’t respect life, we don’t respect each other.
I understand that these whale hunts are a part of Faroese culture for the past 1000 years or so, but so what? It’s time to let it go now. Slavery was part of many cultures around the world, for hundreds and thousands of years. Now, we recognize that slavery is WRONG. Just like slaughtering hundreds of whales every year is WRONG. This is not judgement, this is fact. Whales are sentient beings. Intelligence and consciousness DOES matter. Sorry, eating a chicken is different than eating a whale, just like eating a cow is different than eating a HUMAN. Whales are at the same level of evolution, intelligence, and consciousness as humans are, so killing whales for food is the same as killing humans for food. If the Faroese really believe that all life is the equal, then they should just kill themselves instead of killing whales or any other animal, since they are the same, why should they kill something that is equal to themselves to feed themselves? Doesn’t make any sense now does it? So that entire argument is stupid. Have you watched one of these hunts? They scream and laugh with glee and delight as they kill the whales. Most of the meat is wasted, the carcasses are dumped back into the oceans. It’s incredibly wasteful and disrespectful.
About the whole “traditional whale hunt” argument – Oh really? Vikings were using motorboats and GPS tracking devices to hunt whales hundreds of years ago? Yes, the Faroese initially tag some whales with GPS beacons then release them. Later, they go out with GPS trackers and find the whales again after they have joined with their families and entire pods, then round them up with motorboats, screaming and shouting at them and driving them around the ocean for hours and hours until the whales are exhausted, then they herd them into shallow bays where people with ropes and hooks and knives are waiting to drag them onto the beach and kill them. By the way, the “humane spinal cut” you talk of doesn’t usually work, and doesn’t usually kill them. They usually bleed out and die from blood loss.
These are not “opportunistic hunts when they happen to see a whale” – They are well planned mass genocides of entire family units of whales, using modern technology. THAT IS NOT TRADITION. If they want to go out in longboats with paddles and try to hunt whales, fine, that would be fair, that would at least be giving these whales some respect and giving them a fair chance. This is not fair. This is not tradition.
Perhaps you should educate yourself a bit more before posting this kind of garbage article on the internet. And perhaps YOU should have some respect for your food, then you might be in a better position to notice when other people are being blatantly cruel, disrespectful, and evil. This is evil. Factory farms are evil. Destroying pristine rainforests to grow soybeans is evil. Destroying our Mother Earth to enrich a greedy immoral few is EVIL.
WAKE UP PLEASE
And another thing, you think killing 1% of an entire species every year is OK? Does that sound sustainable to you? I don’t care whatever this organization says, that’s completely ridiculous. Imagine if 1% of all humans on the planet were brutally murdered every year? Would you think that’s sustainable too? Keep in mind we’re talking about creatures who live 50-100 years, and have intelligence and emotional capacity equal to or greater than humans. Can you imagine the effect of having 1 in 100 of them being killed every year? It’s insane.
PLEASE WAKE UP MEGAN. Stop encouraging people to go visit this island and give their money to these people who brutally murder hundreds or thousands of sentient ocean beings every year for sport. That’s what it is to them, it’s sport. The meat is wasted. It’s thrown back into the ocean.
WAKE UP MEGAN
Aaaaand another thing. You keep talking about killing chickens, pigs, cows for food, and saying that’s the same as killing whales for food. IT IS NOT. People raise chickens, pigs, and cows on farms, they are domesticated FOOD animals, and have been so for hundreds and thousands of years. Abusing and mistreating them is still disgusting and vile, but raising them on nice farms, treating them well, and respecting them, and then killing them as humanely as possible is the only ethical way we can be doing things. Which means factory farms need to disappear. (Which means that YOU need to START CARING where your food comes from, and stop being an apathetic, careless, disrespectful DESTROYER like most human beings are today, like I used to be too. Or, you can just go on being an uncaring, mindless, irresponsible, disrespectful, apathetic, cruel person for the rest of your life. Your choice. But it’s your CHOICE. You don’t have to be that way.)
But whales?? WHALES ARE NOT DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. Whales are “citizens of the ocean” – they are intelligent, emotional, loving, evolved beings. They are WILD. We do not OWN them. We have not DOMESTICATED them. Someday, humans will learn to communicate with whales and dolphins and realize that they are our equals, they are essentially our brothers and sisters living in the oceans. Peaceful, loving, playful, intelligent beings.
STOP MAKING THIS STUPID COMPARISON MEGAN. WHALES ARE NOT CHICKENS OR COWS OR SHEEP OR PIGS. IT’S BAD ENOUGH THAT WE EAT THOSE ANIMALS, WE DO NOT NEED TO KILL AND EAT WHALES TOO.
Thank you.
Read it in a breath. It is 7 in the morning here and the entire night I was reading about Intuit’s food habit, which has whales and seals among other things, and other ‘bizarre’ food traditions around the globe and debating on my mind if a blog post on bizarre food bucket list would stand too insensitive in a world where everyone increasingly seems to do their best for sustainability! At least in the virtual world! Your post is written in a culturally sensitive way, even though graphical photos are evocative. I find no issue with this.
Hey there, this is an awesome read but I would like to defend my nations tradition abit, since most here are against it. I am from the Faroe island myself and I do support the Grindráp and I wanna explain why perhaps, I do. Some points you have already mentioned. It is important to note that, the faroese people only kill Pilot Whales, those are the whales we kill, they are called Grind in our language, hence Grindadráp. However, these whales are one of the most common in the north atlantic and in the world, they aren’t close to being threatned and the Faroese people aren’t bringing them any closer to extinction. As you said, around the Faroe Island there are around a million long finned pilot whales and around two hundred thousand, short finned pilot whales. If you take the country of the Faroe island, which is a community of 50k people, we kill around a 1000 year, which is less than 0.1% of the entire population of whales. I mention this point explicity because, I see a lot people saying that the Faroe islands are either, hunting endangered whales or about to make them endangered. Then it is the health risk, this is the only valid point why the Grind should end and almost every Faroese person know this, even if they eat it or not. The high level of mercury is there and shouldn’t be consumed by pregnant women (Which is rarely the case!)or too much in general, but to add to this point People here are very healthy here in general. You won’t become a degenrate as people make it out to be by eating it. One of the third points why I cling to this and most Faroese people don’t listen to other people, it is because they are under the banner of Sea Shepered. For us, these are our Taliban. They come here to our country with hostile intends, they sabotage fishermen boats, break our laws, they destroy cars and worst of all they spread propaganda on the internet and they have a massive following and sent a hate mob our way. This in my expierence has only had the opposite of the intended effect, the younger generation now is often very invested into this harvest, because we as a nation stand together. It is a shame, because the Sea Shephered has honestly ruined our trust in these communities that want our whaling to stop. They intentionally spread misinformation and when we ask them to justify their actions, they either don’t respond or tell us that no animal should be killed. Which is such a flawed arguement. Anyway, for my second last point why I support it. Is because the people that say we should improve act like they come from perfect countries. It is abit pathetic, that an american or any other person for that matter should tell us where to improve as a nation and that they are the pinnacle of morality, which in actuality, they do way more harm to any sea life that we could ever do. They destroy entire eco system with over fishing (We do too, but.. We cannot compete with the level of destruction of these bigger countries) and it is because of them that we have our contaminated meat which in all other respect is quite healthy. Now for my last point, it is that I think our way of killing the whales is quite humane, the only reason why I believe it causes this outrage is because it is outside and everybody can see it, if you went into a slaughter house and brought it outside where every one could see it, it would have the very same response. I don’t blame them, it is a very bloody procedure, but the way we kill them is very professional. Not just anyone can kill them, we use blunted hooks (With no Sharp ENDS! Those have been banned for several decades now!) That we use to drag the whales up with, then we use a “spear”, we call it a mønistinkari, which we use too cut the arteries which is one of the quickest way to kill a whale. The tools we use are very high quality, they aren’t crude swords or rusted iron. They are good tools, used by professional people that have gone through training to kill these whales.
(Sorry for any mispellings, this comment was written in one sitting and I didn’t have the time to look through it properly)
I am grateful to stumble across this article. I`m tired of reading all the other one-sided articles which are obviously bias. This will probably help me with my assignment in school and don`t worry I won`t Plagiarize
they don’t need to do the drives anymore and i’m fairly sure Odin has moved on from people needing to hunt and gather food. it’s just an excuse. they could do the grind with a fake whale to re-enact it they do not need to kill them any longer. PLUS no one eats it they just take it because it’s rude to turn it down and then they take it to the trash heap and dump it.
The height of reading is for it to challenge your thoughts and this article certainly did.
Only with understanding and not hate can we change things for the better.
Where on this planet is it acceptable to hunt and slaughter a pregnant mammal?
I read your article, and I understand both perspectives. However, my opinion that the Grindarap is cruel, unnecessary, and inhumane has not changed.
The fact that this barbarism continues, despite evidence that whales contain mercury and are, therefore, unfit for human consumption, is madness. They are intelligent and social animals, and their babies stay with their mothers for life.
It leads me to the conclusion that the Faroese simply enjoy cruelly torturing and killing these precious animals for entertainment, and using the thinly veiled “tradition” as an excuse for their barbarism.
It was an interesting read. As a Faroese woman myself, I still have to disagree on some parts. It is not essential to survival or to helping out economy. A lot of the whales are still slaughtered and wasted, some people just do it for fun in the name of tradition. I do agree that we have to continually educate the people here though and that’s the only way for change, a bit of awareness is also important as well to keep certain organizations coming back to help. Some do help. I can’t wait to see it end here, I hope it happens in my time. It is sickening, they are beautiful creatures, so emotionally intelligent. The surviving whales mourn, not everyone kills them quickly and the whales experience such intense fear in the lead up. I slowly hope to help change this myself over here. I do agree that all animal lives are just as important though, maybe I was raised this way, but I do think this is a brutal way for the whales to die. I can’t say I like slaughterhouses either though.
Thank you for this perspective. I have been horrified by all the pictures I’ve seen the last couple days and have felt so much distain for the country as a whole, which was unfair. You brought up so many great points, including some that helped me see my own hypocrisy.
I can appreciate a cultures desire to maintain traditions, and if this practice was truly feeding everyone, then it does make a lot more sense. However, seeing the piles of carcasses that are potentially going to waste still makes the size of this event look incredibly, and unnecessarily barbaric to an outsider.
Also, just fyi I tried following your link to the Earthrace conservation group and it was incorrect. Looks like it should be: https://www.earthrace.net/
Interesting that my contribution to this discussion last year following the slaughter of 1428 dolphins on 12th September 2021 has been deleted. Not exactly an open discussion then.
My points are that the actions of the Faroeise are not “traditional” or “humane” it is industrialised killing of sentient animals who are hunted and chased for hours and forced to endure the slaughter of their family members before their own agonising deaths. If we saw herds of elephants being hunted and killed this way no one would support it. Sea mammals are incredibly social and caring. No one is fooled by the arguments of the Faroese; they simply want to kill off competition for their fishing industry. A fishing industry which breaks sustainable quotas and makes them one of the richest nations in Europe. This greed and cruelty can not be justified in today’s world. Only when the last of these beautiful animals are slaughtered and eco systems reach irreversible tipping points will such selfish, greedy and hateful human actions be seen as wrong. This hateful world makes me despair.
If you want to justify your debate Megan then do not censor or delete people’s posts and opinions because they dont follow and agree with your views. There are many, many strong arguments and points to be made against “the grind” and these views should be heard…they will not go away even if you delete.
I fail to see how my comments were hateful in any way. I certainly did not, and never would, engage in any name calling. I would never engage in hate speak full stop. I thought this was a forum for debate on this topic and feel that my views are valid. I’m not sure why they were left on the site for 6 months then recently deleted.
I simply made the points that on 12th September 2021 1428 dolphins were chased for hours and then slaughtered in a bay, the highest dolphin slaughter in history. I was upset , and why shouldn’t anyone who loves these animals be? I made the points that amongst these 1428 there would have been pregnant, maybe even animals in the process of trying to give birth, calves, jeuvemilles…all slaughtered with no exception. They were churned up and damaged by the motors of the boats, many were left struggling for hours, watching family members being killed and hearing their cries. Even the men engaged in the slaughter admitted they were wrong and the animals suffered on that day.
I made the point that this is not a humane death, farm animals do not endure being chased and terrified for hours.
I made the point that these animals stand absolutely no chance against motorised speed boats that hunt them and that this is massively different from the traditional means of hunting with men in row boats. The men engaged in hunting now barely need to break a sweat.
It seems so much more of a show of arrogance to the world and spite against people campaigning to protect these creatures. I heard a Faroese man say that on the UK news when he was interviewed about it. He said that the campaign against the grind has spurred it on.
I am not an activist. I am a 52 year old nurse. I simply cannot understand the lack of humanity and empathy in this statement. I find it very upsetting.
I have listened to the arguments and my thoughts are that how the grind is carried out now is not done in a “traditional way”. It is industrialised. It is not sustainable and causes so much needless suffering.
To top it all the Faroese are amongst the richest in Europe with all the benefits that come with that. They certainly do not need whale meat to help them survive a harsh Winter.
The natural world is under so much pressure and stress from human activity. It is proven that whales help capture carbon and are vital to the ecosystem of the oceans.
These animals protect humans in danger and show far more “humanity” than the people who slaughter them for what seems to be national pride.
I hope and pray that the tide of opinion in the Faroe Islands will change and they will learn to love and respect these amazing creatures whilst acknowledging the vital role they played in helping early generations of Faroese to survive. I hope the Faroese will see the need to help these creatures thrive and live in their waters with love and respect. I for one would be on the first flight over there if this was the case.
Please do not simply delete my views because they differ from yours.
Hi Megan, congratulations on becoming a mother. I wish you and your family well.
I disagree that my original message was as viscous and hateful as you claim and as it is now deleted I have no proof that it wasn’t.
I cried for weeks after the 12th September 2021 and still do at every new grind. I am still angry but have to say, I am mostly upset, shocked and depressed at the inhumanity with what happens and the narrative created to justify such unecessary cruelty.
You haven’t responded to the points I made about the huge numbers of dolphins slaughtered on 12/0921 and the way they died being totally out of line with what the Faroese claim as sustainable, traditional and humane.
Now you are a mother, as I am, I wonder if you can understand more the horror and pain of a mother whale who has raised her calf with an incredibly close bond, nursing, playing with and loving her offspring for years, having to endure seeing it slaughtered by what must seem like alien beings in front of her and being helpless to intervene. The terror and horror and pain is unimaginable to me.
This is exactly why I and so many millions of others fund it so abhorrent and upsetting.
In the UK 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for a suspension of trade between the UK and the Faroe Islands until the Grinds stop. This will be scheduled to be debated in the UK parliament in the coming months. I’m sure that the threat of economic sanctions will make the Faroese take serious notice. The fishing industry was very quick to distance itself from the events of the 12th September issuing a statement straight away to say that it did not condone what happened. Money matters to them more than their “tradition” perhaps?
I hope with all my heart that the bill gets passed but even if it doesn’t it will raise even more awareness and the issue will not go away.
I agree that “Pilot whales no longer need to be hunted in the Faroe Islands”
In reply to the online comments posted, I will add the other side, to show how the Faroese yelled “kill him!” when a Sea Shepherd volunteer tried to get their inflatable boat back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_WkG_yfLh8
Hi Meg,
I agree with (almo0st) EVERYTHING you said -about how one should not criticize before listening to the other side, how Feroese in fact respect nature more than the Western world does, how the hunt has a
social aspect -(the supply of free meat free to the Island’s inhabitants), how there is a lot of hypocrisy in the western’s world criticism etc.
But ONE sentence changed everything for me and that sentence alone, blocked everything else you said and made the whole logical and moral structure you made previously, collapse and melt like an iceberg in the North Atlantic ocean..
“Pilot whales no longer need to be hunted in the Faroe Islands, and what was once a tradition vital to survival is now largely continued as an emotional attachment to cultural heritage”
I will accept arguments of necessity, arguments of die-hard way of living even arguments of convenience but I REFUSE to accept the slaughter of animals for the sake of “emotional attachment to culture” as a justified cause.
For me that statement justifies all the accusations of barbarity thrown at the Feroess and puts the Grind to be in the same category as shooting wildlife for fun..(which is also done for “emotional” reasons..)
IF the grindadrap is only for feeding the Faroes islanders and cultural heritage, then you should whale with boats without motors and you shouldn’t sell the whale meat.
But you do the both things.
Hi Meg. Thank you for taking all the time and effort to educate people about the Grind. It is an excellent, balanced viewpoint to try to calm the knee-jerk reactions to the Grind. I can see the Faroese’s right to their traditions and I can understand if the whales killed are eaten by the islanders (and not their dogs).
I do have several concerns though. Just because it’s a tradition doesn’t mean it can’t be wrong. Slavery was a tradition to harvest sugar cane. It was traditional for women not to be educated, not to be allowed to vote and they had to stay home and rear children and manage the home. It was a tradition to slaughter whales in the oceans but it has mostly ceased. It is a tradition for French farmers to force feeding geese to produce foie gras but some day it will be stopped. I won’t dwell on FGM or Halal but you know.
I also worry that eating the whale meat has serious health concerns and I’m certain Faroese consumption must be falling and perhaps studies of the health of whale-eaters should be published. After all, smoking has been outlawed considerably because of health concerns.
The final killing via the lance may be quick but lets not kid ourselves, the whole process of the Grind must be terrifying and horrific for the whales being corralled and waiting to die in a sea of blood.
And to say 1% of a population being culled is acceptable doesn’t sit well with me.
I feel it is a barbaric tradition, these are beautiful, amazing, wild, free-roaming creatures, not bred for consumption but you are absolutely right in your blog about the rights and wrongs and the method of resolution and I am not here to disagree with you, but in an age where one dare not disagree with a person’s gender or pronoun the Grind seems doomed within a few generations which can only be a good thing for the whales, the Faroese and the planet.
I only hope a Faroese fisherman doesn’t get shipwrecked on a faraway island where the ‘tradition’ is head-hunting or cannibalism!
Thanks again and no reply required.