Ocean Sentry
Yesterday, scores of Faroe Islanders crowded the beach as a pod of 80-100 pilot whales were killed in Fámjin, located in the middle of the coastline on the western side of Suðuroy, according a Faroe online newspaper.
The pilot whale hunt – grind or grindadráp- is dramatic and bloody by its nature. Entire pods of whales are killed on shores and in shallow bays at open sight.
A grind is initiated when pilot whales or dolphins are sighted offshore. Then, the animals are herded into a bay with boats and jet skis and slaughtered by locals once the defenceless whales are forced to beach.
Then their spinal cords are cut with a knife or lance. Once they are dead, their carcasses are flensed and the meat prepared for distribution.
There is no information on global trends in population, and with a wide range of threats to populations, from military sonar to entanglement in fishing gear, it is believed that populations could face a reduction of 30 percent over three generations.
It is the largest slaughter of marine mammals in Europe and is in violation of three conventions — the Bern Convention, Bonn Convention and ASCOBANS.
