Dolphin hunt in Japan (archive picture): On the Faroe Islands it goes back to the Viking Age
Photo: AP / Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
According to media reports and information from environmentalists, hundreds of dolphins have been driven into a fjord in the Faroe Islands and killed. According to the Faroese broadcaster KVF, more than 1,400 of the animals were killed in the Skálafjord on Sunday evening. As reported by the Danish radio, the action has rekindled the local debate about traditional whale hunting. This hunt is known as "Grindadrap" and has been practiced for centuries on the largely autonomous islands in the North Atlantic, which are part of the Danish kingdom.
Even the former chairman of the Faroese Association for Pilot Whales said to KVF that the killing of such a large number of dolphins was excessive. The current head of the association feared for the reputation of the Faroe Islands. It is time to seriously discuss whether the hunting of dolphins should remain permitted, he told the online medium In.fo.
The environmental organization Sea Shepherd posted a long video on Facebook showing men pulling animals from blood-red water onto a beach. The organization spoke of the largest herd of marine mammals ever killed in a single action in the Faroe Islands. A dolphin school is something beautiful that you should admire and not drag onto a blood-soaked beach, wrote one user. “The hunt is pointless and, according to eyewitness reports, caused great animal suffering. Here a limit has been crossed and a new dimension of hunting has been reached «, criticized the marine protection organization OceanCare.
Whaling in the Faroe Islands dates back to the Viking Age.
The animals are driven into a bay from ships and boats, where they are slaughtered and the meat is then distributed to the participants.
Mainly pilot whales are hunted, but sometimes also dolphins.
According to Faroese census, a total of 576 pilot whales and 35 white-sided dolphins were killed in 2020.
The number of over 1,400 dolphins killed is therefore exceptionally high.
ime / dpa