In the Faroe Islands, connected to Denmark, 1500 dolphins were killed overnight in a dolphin hunt that was part of the ‘native whaling’ ritual.
In the Faroe Islands, connected to Denmark, 1500 dolphins were killed overnight in a dolphin hunt that was part of the ‘native whaling’ ritual.
22 comments
Americans are asleep. Lets wait for the outrage later
I want to share this comment by u/hensethe1 from this [thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/pnjlrx/1428_dolphins_was_brutally_slaughtered_or_beat_to/) 2 days ago:
>
> Being born Faroese but having grown up elsewhere, I’d like to first off mention that I don’t support the whale slaughter, but there are a lot of false information going around here so I’m going to share a few relevant facts about this:
>
> First off this is happening in the Faroe Islands. A small island archipelago in the middle of the North Atlantic with an estimated population of 51.000
>
> The Faroe Islands are barren and brutal, and for a thousand years the people of the isles lived off of fish, mutton, potatoes and yes, whale.
>
> Up until as late as the 60s beef/pork and generally groceries from out of country were uncommon and somewhat inaccesible so people stuck with what was free and accesible, mainly ocean food. The country was generally poor for a long time.
>
> The culling of pilot whales is a tradition as much as it is done for food, but in recent years and with newer generations it has become a lot rarer for cullings to occur, and the amount of whale killed is a fraction of what it used to be.
>
> The entirety of the whale is used for food except the entrails. The blubber is salted, whilst the meat is most often dried and served with blubber, but can also be cooked like steak. It used to be a common meal 2-3 days a week, but in recent years whale serves more as a delicacy than a meal in most parts, served at birthdays or other similar dinners.
>
> During a culling all participants are granted a share of meat/blubber. Bigger participation, bigger share. The one who spots the flock is granted a whole whale, but almost always concedes it to be shared. Once all participant shares are granted, the local “whale foreman” will share surplus meat with the town of the beach and further. It happens more often than not these days that a flock is spotted but a hunt is not called out.
>
> The killing of pilot whales and the amounts killed per year records back hundreds of years and is one of the most detailed conservatory efforts combined with details of estimated population numbers.
>
> Pilot whales number in the hundreds of thousands and as little as 0.1% are killed by the Faroese, a number insignificant to the maintenance of a healthy population.
>
> The whales are not “brutally” killed. They’re herded into beaches where only licensed whalers with experience and training are allowed to use the kill spear, which severs the cranial artery and the whales are killed instantaneously.
>
> There is no ritual. No festival. No rite of passage. The killing of pilot whales is continued out of thankfulness for the free food the ocean provides the people that have survived off of it for a thousand years.
>
> Now the EU has in fact deemed whales to be “non-human persons” because they’re clearly shown to have tight family bonds and are intelligent, but to the Faroese the whale is what pork, veal, beef, chicken etc. is to everyone else.
>
> Tldr: it’s not a rite of passage, tradition or festival. It’s free food for a people that have eaten what the ocean provides for a thousand years. The whales experience no more pain or stress than the beef and pork in your local supermarket does
*b… but it seems barbaric*
yes, we slaughter animals on mass scale for food. Welcome to reality.
As long as they eat em its fine I guess?
We farm and hunt all kinds of animals. Why not dolphines once a year.
Looks really bad, but I, on the other hand, eat meat several times a week, so I can’t tell them to stop without being a hypocrite, They just do their own killing, while I let someone else do it for me.
Oh another one of those yearly posts that boosts karma for whoever does it first and triggers people for a 1h until they go back to their business.
See you all again next year under same or similar post and take care.
This whole comment section is rural vs urban and vegan vs meateating.
Fascinating article though.
is the water red?
Do they at least process their meat afterwards?
Let’s keep being angry at Faroese for eating sea creatures while we eat pigs which are just as intelligent, didn’t live a free life (unlike the sea creatures) and went through just as much pain (if not much more)… Very logical.
This is horrible but anyone outraged who also eats fish should know that in doing so they are supporting an industry that kills far more whales and dolphins in stressful and painful ways as bycatch than Faroe islanders ever could.
I’m going to be downvoted into oblivion over this, but it’s very challenging to grow fruit and vegetables on the Faroe Island. So traditionally they eat seafood. All types of seafood. Telling them not to is the same as telling the Sami to stop eating reindeer, or telling Norwegians to stop eating cod.
1. If you eat bacon, then eating Dolphin is not worse. As they are both intelligent animals.
2. If you are Vegan, what would your suggestion be for the people of Faroes to feed themselves if all borders had to close (lets say for 24 months) due to a worse pandemic than the one we are in? Same goes for Norway, Greenland, and other countries and areas where growing enough fruit and vegetables is impossible due to climate and short growing season.
Why is the headline trying to throw Denmark under the bus here ?? Why is that information relevant?
Seems like post like this is an yearly event on Reddit
Yes some cultures does thing differently
Nice to read responses form people that actually lives there
Being upset about this, but still paying for animals to be exploited, tortured and killed makes a person a bit of a hypocrite, doesn’t it?
[removed]
> In the Faroe Islands, connected to Denmark…
They aren’t bloody “connected”, they’re a part of the Danish Realm (“Det Danske Rige”).
Was on the islands on a 4 week internship, but a lot of their culture and history revolve around sheep, fishing and whaling. Everytime a giant whale (like Sperm Whales or Blue Whales) where brought in, many islanders came to get their cut of meat and whale fat (used in lamps).
I’m not judging, but I hope that it is done sustainable and with as little stress and pain to the animals as possible, as I expect from “regular” meat.
What I read was they grossly underestimated the size of the pod, they thought they were only going to get 200 dolphins. They’re having trouble trying to find people to give all the meat to and are reaching out to other communities to take some of the meat from them.
I just don’t understand why they kill the young as well? As a hunter in the US we have certain bag limits, size, age, all of these things get taken into account to help keep the population under control while also helping the population not decline. I mean you have to understand the outrage over here seeing baby dolphins with a slice down their neck? I can’t kill a doe under a certain size and I can’t kill a fawn either if I go hunting. I can see it being acceptable to kill young and their mothers is if it’s hogs or something similar which are invasive and dangerous.
Even the locals on Faror Island where outraged by this.
The Faroe goverment (or whoever was in charge of the whale fishing cant really remember) said that they thought i was a pack of 200 dolphins and not 1500. So apparently it was a mistake.
That is a lot! Looking at the fishing worldwide, the bycatch kills 300.000 dolphins a year, that is 822 dolphin per day world wide by not even the intention of hunting them.
It’s awful. But at least in accordance with tradition, the meat is utilised and eaten by the Faroese.
Also to consider, although these Dolphins met a brutal end, it’s really no different to the slaughter of millions and millions of livestock that happens every day. In addition, these Dolphins would have led a natural life of freedom, while those aforementioned cows, pigs, chickens etc. will have lived a miserable life in a small, dark and painful world.
I hate to see what happens to these beautiful creatures. But I wonder how many of those who are clutching their pearls, shocked and appalled, will also be lamenting the suffering of the many billions of other animals that humans abuse.