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(CNN) -
More than 1,400 dolphins were killed Sunday night in the Danish Faroe Islands in what hunters said was a traditional hunt.
The international marine conservation organization "Sea Shepherd" says in a statement that an overpopulation of 1,428 Atlantic white-faced dolphins were cornered on Skálabotnur beach in the Faroe Islands on September 12, where they all died.
Footage from the slaughter shows the hunters halfway into the sea, which turned red, with the carcasses of dolphins piled up on the beach.
Traditional hunting, called "grindadrap", generally involves hunting long-finned pilot whales and has been advocated by locals, who say it is an important and sustainable food source, given the high pilot whale populations.
But Sea Shepherd says dolphin meat was no longer popular to eat and was likely contaminated.
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“Normally, the meat of a grindadrap is shared among the participants and the rest among the locals of the district where the hunt takes place.
However, there is more dolphin meat from this hunt than anyone would want to take.
So the dolphins are being offered to other districts in hopes of not having to dump them, ”Sea Shepherd said in its statement.
Bjorg Jacobsen of the Faroe Islands police said the hunt had been legal but declined to comment further.
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The hunt was criticized even by those who tend to be in favor of whaling, and Kristian Petersen, 41, from the Faroese city of Fuglafjørður, said it was unacceptable.
"I've experienced it first hand and participated a little bit as well. As long as it was just for food, I've been supportive," Petersen said.
However, he believes that the recent hunt involved "so many mistakes", including chasing "too large a flock" and prolonging the suffering of the dolphins as "there were not enough people to carry out the killings on the beaches."
"Considering the times we are in, with a global pandemic and the world at a standstill, it is absolutely appalling to see an attack on nature of this scale in the Faroe Islands," said Captain Alex Cornelissen, Executive Director of Sea Shepherd Global. .
"If we have learned anything from this pandemic, it is that we have to live in harmony with nature instead of ending it."
A Faroese Government spokesman, Páll Nolsøe, told CNN in a written statement that Faroese islanders catch an average of 250 white-faced dolphins a year, but added that the number "fluctuates greatly from year to year. ".
“The catch of white-faced dolphins in the Faroe Islands is also considered sustainable, according to the latest abundance estimate,” said Nolsøe.
"The catch of 1,400 dolphins this Sunday, September 12 in Skálafjørður was exceptionally large," he added.
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“Pilot whales and other small whales represent one of the few local sources of meat that does not have to be imported from afar.
The meat from each whale collection provides a large amount of valuable food, which is distributed free of charge to the local communities where the whale collections take place.
Food that would otherwise have to be imported from sources in other countries.
The meat of the 1,400 dolphins captured this Sunday has also been distributed among the participants of the capture and the local community ”, he continued.
“There is no doubt that whaling in the Faroe Islands is a shocking sight for people unfamiliar with hunting and killing mammals.
However, the hunts are fully regulated and organized, ”said Nolsøe.
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The Danish Foreign Ministry told CNN in a written statement: “The Faroe Islands are an autonomous entity within the Kingdom of Denmark and the Faroese authorities have assumed legislative and administrative responsibility in a substantial number of fields, including natural resource management with respect to marine mammals ".
The Faroe Islands are a semi-autonomous region, encompassed by the external sovereignty of Denmark.
They are halfway between Scotland and Iceland.
Allegra Goodwin and Jeevan Ravindran participated in this report
Dolphins
