Massacre of more than 500 dolphins

The local government of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory of Denmark, said on June 15 that more than 500 dolphins have been killed since May.

Dolphin hunters in Leynar, Faroe Islands on June 14. Photo: AFP/Sea Shepherd

In the "grindadrap", a Faroese tradition, hunters would surround pilot whales and dolphins in a wide semicircle of fishing boats, then drive them into shallow bays and strand them. Fishermen on shore would kill them with knives.

Every summer, images of the bloody hunts attract attention around the world and anger animal rights activists, AFP reported on June 15. They say the activity is barbaric.

"There were two grindadrap attacks yesterday, one with 266 whales and the other with 180, according to preliminary reports," a Faroese government spokesman said. Including the two new attacks, there have been five grindadrap attacks this hunting season, taking a large number of pilot whales (a type of dolphin).

Environmental NGO Sea Shepherd used its vessels to disrupt the 2014 hunt. Sea Shepherd also criticized the Danish navy for allowing environmentalists to disrupt the hunt.

However, the hunt remains widely supported in the Faroese. Supporters point out that dolphins have supported local people for centuries. They say the media and foreign NGOs do not respect local culture and traditions.

The Faroe Islands typically kill around 800 pilot whales each year for their blubber and meat. In 2022, the government limited the number of Atlantic white-sided dolphins it can kill each year to 500, after an unusually large slaughter of more than 1,400 dolphins sparked a backlash, including from local residents. Neither pilot whales nor Atlantic white-sided dolphins are considered endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

Thu Thao (According to AFP )

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