Whaling in the Faroe Islands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Killed pilot whales on the beach in the village Hvalba on the southernmost Faroese island Suðuroy, 11 August 2002.
Whaling in the Faroe Islands has been practised since at least the tenth century.[1] It is regulated by Faroese authorities but not by the International Whaling Commission as there are disagreements about the Commission's competency for small cetaceans[2][3]. Around 950 Long-finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melaena) are killed annually, mainly during the summer. The hunts, called "grindadráp" in Faroese, are non-commercial and are organised on a community level; anyone can participate. The hunters first surround the pilot whales with a wide semicircle of boats. The boats then drive the pilot whales slowly into a bay or to the bottom of a fjord.
Most Faroese consider the hunt an important part of their culture and history. Animal-rights groups criticize the hunt as being cruel and unnecessary,[4] [5] while the hunters claim in return that most journalists do not exhibit sufficient knowledge of the catch methods or its economic significance.[6] As of the end of November 2008 the chief medical officers of the Faroe Islands have recommended that pilot whales no longer be considered fit for human consumption because of the levels of toxins in the whales.[7]
