Dolphin and Whale Killing in the Faroe Islands

Photo from: http://www.protecttheocean.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/FI10.jpg

The Faroe Islands is an archipelago under the sovereignty of Denmark, and they have this culture of dolphin and whale killing.  It is traditional for them to kill dolphins and whales in the month of August since this tradition of killing signifies the coming of age of teenage men who participate in this.  This tradition is more than a century old and in the past, this is important for the residents of the Faroe Islands because they need to eat the dolphins and whales they kill.  However, now, this is completely useless in my opinion because the Faroese eat fish.  Also, according to health experts, pilot whale meat is not safe to eat since it contains large amounts of mercury which is poisonous to the body.  Now, whenever killings occur, they just leave the whales and dolphins on the beach to die in their own blood.  They don’t do anything to the carcasses of the whales and dolphins, but leave them to rot on the shore.

This is completely ridiculous in my opinion since whales and dolphins are considered endangered, so why in the world would you still want to kill them.  These animals are important to our ecosystem and every animal you kill upsets the balance of the ecosystem.  That is why I believe that we should only kill animals if this benefits the survival of the human race.

But in the Faroe Islands, an average of 700 whales and dolphins are killed every year for no other significance than to prove that the teenagers who participated in the killings are now men.   Terrified pilot whales were driven ashore, gaffed with steel hooks and dragged into the shallows, their necks cut with knives so they bled to death.  This is just too much.  I could not even stand to see a single whale or dolphin killed since whales and dolphins are such gentle creatures.  Dolphins come near the beaches of the Faroe Islands to play with the villagers living there, not to get brutally killed.  It just pains me that these amazing sea creatures are tortured to death.  The reason the Faroese give for their actions is just plain wrong in my opinion.  Men are supposed to take care of animals.  I don’t understand how killing creatures that could not fight back proves that you are true men.  All I see from this tradition is how sick the minds of these men are.

I really wish that this horrendous tradition would stop.  Not only are the people who participate in this tradition endangering the existence of whales and dolphins, but they are also making me (and probably other people as well) lose faith in humanity (well probably just the Faroese and people in Denmark) to think that whole tribes of people are capable of being so insensitive and vicious.

Blogpost by: Elaine Lee Ramos

References:

Erwin Vermeulen. Pilot Whale and Dolphin Slaughter in the Faroe Islands. Last Updated: August 25, 2013 Retrieved from: http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2013/08/25/pilot-whale-and-dolphin-slaughter-in-the-faroe-islands/

Campaign Whale. The Faroes Islands: cruel whale and dolphin slaughter!. Last Updated: 2014 Retrieved from: http://www.campaign-whale.org/campaigns/the-faroes-cruel-whale-slaughter