Where most people see a thing of wonder when catching sight of dolphins, Faroe Island inhabitants, or Faroese, see a food source. However, since the Faroese slaughtered 156 dolphins, including five calves, last week, some fellow islanders agree with activists who say the practice is cruel and outdated.
It's a centuries-old tradition to hunt whales and dolphins in the Faroe Islands, an 18-island archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom.
Each year, Faroese hunters drive the whales and dolphins to shore and then sever their spinal cords and necks while onlookers watch. Locals refer to the slaughter as the Grindadráp, or the Grind.
The practice became global news in 2021 when locals killed 1,428 Atlantic white-sided dolphins and pilot whales. Critics were horrified as children watched the clear waters turn bright red with blood.
While hunters claimed the meat was distributed, cooked, and eaten to ensure no meat was wasted, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society proved some of the meat was discarded; in some instances, entire whales were thrown in a dumpster. The massacre led to organizations discouraging tourists from visiting the self-governed islands in a bid to pressure the government into ending the practice.
Last week's butchering of more than 150 dolphins has led to renewed calls from locals and advocates for the Faroe Island government to step in.
An online petition addressed to Faroes Islands Prime Minister Aksel Vilhelmson Johannesen, on behalf of citizens from around the world and half of the inhabitants of the islands, asked him "to immediately place a full moratorium on these hunts while you commission a rigorous science-based assessment, with the sincere hope and conviction that they should be ended for good."
One Faroese person wrote on social media, "We don't have a tradition of killing Atlantic white-sided dolphins, and I don't understand why we should do it now." Another posted, "I believe the overall joy from them would be much greater if we, who live by the fjord, could watch them."
The Captain Paul Watson Foundation UK, which monitors the annual killings, has encouraged the Danish government to outlaw the practice since the islands are under the external sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark.
The foundation's COO, Rob Read, stated the most recent dolphin slaughter is hiding behind tradition. He also said Faroese locals should move away from hunting since they have access to supermarkets and modern conveniences.
"Tradition is simply being used as an excuse, much the same as in other nations who have used tradition as an excuse for things such as fox hunting and bull fighting," Read said.
