1428 Dolphins Slaughtered in the Faroe Islands Sunday Night

Suckit · 15-09-2021 12:34pm #1

I wouldn't be an animal rights campaigner, or an eco warrior etc. But this story in particular seems pretty brutal to me.

You can read the full article here - WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT

On Sunday night, September 12th, a super-pod of 1428 Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins was driven for many hours and for around 45 km by speed boats and jet-skis into the shallow water at Skálabotnur beach in the Danish Faroe Islands, where every single one of them was killed.

Sea Shepherd believes this to be the largest single hunt of dolphins or pilot whales in Faroese history (the next largest being 1200 pilot whales back in 1940), and is possibly the largest single hunt of cetaceans ever recorded worldwide.

While Sea Shepherd has been fighting to stop the ‘Grind’ since the early 1980’s, this latest dolphin massacre was so brutal and badly mishandled that it is no surprise the hunt is being criticized in the Faroese media and even by many outspoken pro-whalers and politicians in the Faroe Islands.

According to locals who shared videos and photos with Sea Shepherd, this hunt broke several Faroese laws regulating the Grind. First, the Grind foreman for the district was never informed and therefore never authorized the hunt. Instead, it was another district’s foreman who called the Grind without the proper authority.

Second, many participants of the hunt had no license, which is required in the Faroe Islands, since it involves specific training in how to quickly kill the pilot whales and dolphins. However, footage shows many of the dolphins were still alive and moving even after being thrown onshore with the rest of their dead pod.

Third, photos show many of the dolphins had been run over by motorboats, essentially hacked by propellers, which would have resulted in a slow and painful death. According to locals, the hunt has been reported to the Faroese police for these violations.

How is this still a thing in this day and age?

Chasing, torturing and killing animals in such a barbaric way, for FUN or under the guise of 'tradition'. I find it sickening myself, but there is probably equally bad or worse going on elsewhere that we don't know about. The big one everyone seems to know about is the Japanese and their whaling. In this instance, they don't even have enough people to eat all of the meat, they are offering it away to neighbouring districts so that they don't have to dump the meat.

To get a sense of scale; this single hunt of 1428 Atlantic White Sided Dolphins at Skálabotnur approaches the Japanese government quota for the entire six-month dolphins killing/capture at the infamous ‘Cove’ at Taiji in Japan, and significantly exceeds the numbers actually killed in any recent years of the Taiji killing season.

This cruel and unnecessary hunt was carried out towards the end of the summer when the Faroese have already killed 615 long finned pilot whales, bringing the total number of cetaceans killed in 2021 in the Faroe Islands to a shocking 2043.

Sickening.

Timberrrrrrrr · 15-09-2021 5:00pm

Sickening that this is still allowed happen in this day and age, they should be hammered with sanctions and this barbaric practice banned.

nolivesmatter · 15-09-2021 6:51pm

I had no idea what a super pod was. Just saw a clip of one on youtube and it's quite a sight, hard to understand why anyone would want to just destroy it.

15-09-2021 6:55pm

What was the motive?

Northernlily · 15-09-2021 7:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117896195#Comment_117896195

Tradition.

About time eyes were focused on this practice. Brutal in the extreme.

15-09-2021 7:33pm

God, this seems pretty barbaric ☹️

ButtersSuki · 15-09-2021 7:36pm

For a deeper insight into this world (although based in Japan and not the Faroes), watch "The Cove".

archer22 · 15-09-2021 7:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117895705#Comment_117895705

They are a self governing part of the kingdom of Denmark and while not technically part of the EU, they do have a free trade agreement with the EU.

The EU should immediately scrap this agreement as it is a total disgrace that the EU gives preferential trade status to such a barbaric savage place.

archer22 · 15-09-2021 7:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117896371#Comment_117896371

According to one report they were even using Chainsaws to kill the Dolphins!

whisky_galore · 15-09-2021 8:07pm

It's their culture.

Tails142 · 15-09-2021 8:21pm

Ah here, that's not on at all.

ghoulfinger · 15-09-2021 8:25pm

The whole thing absolutely sickens me to the core. I visited the Faroe Islands in the 1980s and learned about the various aspects of their culture, including the unsavoury one of the whale-killing ritual, a practice which has been particularly commonplace in various Atlantic islands. In fact I just missed witnessing a whale hunt by Torshavn harbour as I contemplated an evening walk there. Something stopped me, can’t remember what, but had I seen it the unpleasant memory would have dogged me forever.

For centuries these isolated islanders depended on killing the beautiful creatures for survival. It’s sometimes an unpleasant part of human nature to adapt these rituals into tradition and “sport”. At its very extreme people can even derive extreme psychological satisfaction or sexual gratification from partaking in or witnessing these practices. The Faeroe Island economy still relies on whaling to an extent. This is a wiki article but it outlines comprehensively the history and culture of the practice in the small country:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_the_Faroe_Islands

Fishing is also a considerable part of the Faeroese economy, and both local consumption and export of halibut features. Dolphins have been viewed by fisher(wo)men as competition to the food source, so this would have played a part in this disgusting occurrence.

cruizer101 · 15-09-2021 8:44pm

F**k me thats a massacre. The video linked at end of article has footage of dolphins being dragged out of the water and cut open from the back of the head in order to kill them. How on earth is something like that taking place in what is more or less an EU country.

weisses · 15-09-2021 8:47pm

Savage barbaric bunch of inbreds

Dyr · 15-09-2021 10:58pm

What are we outraged by, that they're killing them, killing them improperly or killing too many of them at once?

Suckit · 15-09-2021 11:07pm

Reading into it more, apparently the authorities have been trying to stop it for years, not because of the brutality or the cruelty, but because the Dolphins, Whales and other sea creatures are contaminated from pollution with mercury and other metals.

In the article it also states

“For such a hunt to take place in 2021 in a very wealthy European island community just 230 miles from the UK with no need or use for such a vast quantity of contaminated meat is outrageous.”

I can see how easily people can go into supporting and campaigning against this - full time, after going back over the story a few times in different publications. It is just insane.

Imho, to get people to listen and wake up again, they need to dull the sound from all the people banging drums and over-repeating it. It starts to lose it's importance when it is repeated so often. This just caught me completely by surprise, and when I gradually got my head around (most of) the size of the killing spree, it was a big wake up call (for me). Like hearing 'save the Whales' the first time it was ever brought to the publics attention, before it became overused.

kowloonkev · 16-09-2021 6:14am

I rarely see threads on here about the beef, pork and poultry industries. Funny that.

Timberrrrrrrr · 16-09-2021 6:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117897908#Comment_117897908

Because those animals are killed humanely?

Pawwed Rig · 16-09-2021 6:32am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117897911#Comment_117897911

So if the dolphins were given a bolt to the head, had their throat sliced open or put in a gas chamber it would be ok?

magicbastarder · 16-09-2021 7:33am

I think I worked out years ago that there are over 7 million farm animals killed a year in Ireland.

But if the faroese claim tradition as a reason for this, this kicks out one leg of a three legged stool of their defence. You don't kill intelligent animals because of tradition.

recode the site · 16-09-2021 9:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117897911#Comment_117897911

Yes indeed, that’s true, farm animals are killed by standardised totally humane methods, and to produce quality saleable meat for out market it’s essential that the animals are not overly-stressed prior to death.

Pawwed Rig · 16-09-2021 9:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117897948#Comment_117897948

What level of intelligence makes killing them ok?

Pigs are highly intelligent for example

https://a-z-animals.com/blog/the-10-smartest-animals-in-the-world/

recode the site · 16-09-2021 9:29am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117897914#Comment_117897914

No it wouldn’t be, either.

Pawwed Rig · 16-09-2021 9:31am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117898216#Comment_117898216

But it is ok for other animals?

Dyr · 16-09-2021 9:38am

From what I see, they beach the dolphins and then sever their spines and carotoids, that's a pretty quick way to kill something

El Tarangu · 16-09-2021 9:46am

While this is appalling, I can't really see much difference between this and the Irish practice of separating out male chicks at hatching so that they can be pushed, while still alive, into big rollers and ground up for fertiliser.

16-09-2021 9:46am

If you have to eat some meat then you have to eat some meat. Some do, some dont.

But those who kill for the lulz are a different category.

And those who drag out the death on top of it are lower still.

So for that reason fuk the Faroese, pack of scumbags.

pjdarcy · 16-09-2021 9:51am

Fishing is brutal and it's destroying the oceans. The solution is simple; stop eating fish.

osarusan · 16-09-2021 10:04am

Visually and mentally sickening, but when I try to make a clear distinction in my own mind between this and how the chicken I ate for dinner last night ended up on my place, I'm not sure I can.

Sure, you can argue about a humane death, and that's the first point that comes to mind as a distinction between the two, but then the obvious counter is that if it could be done humanely, I should no longer have an issue with it (or that aspect of it at least), but I'm not sure that would be the case. There would still be 'something' wrong with it.

Maybe that 'something' comes down to engrained perceptions of what is and isn't food, and what animals it is or isn't acceptable to kill for food (and these perceptions vary significantly across cultures), and the positions behind that aren't actually that consistent or coherent.

Dyr · 16-09-2021 10:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117898309#Comment_117898309

They're not eating fish

FlubberJones · 16-09-2021 10:15am

This is barbaric and reeks of the usual argument of "tradition"... it should be universally condemned and pressure should be put on them to stop doing it.

This is not a massive herd of farm animals bred for slaughter ( I dont eat beef or pork).. this is a massive group of wild animals that are hunted, corralled and slaughtered.

Carried out by a bunch of Neanderthals that will claim bullshit like heritage, livelihoods and other such shite.

1428 Dolphins Slaughtered in the Faroe Islands Sunday Night

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