Faroe Islands tourists traumatized as 78 dolphins killed

Table Of Content

• ABC News
• MORE: Man who calls himself 'Dolphin Dave' cited for continuously harassing humpback whale, dolphin pod: Officials
• MORE: 21-foot killer whale dies after beaching itself on Florida coast
• Cruise line apologizes for 'distress' after passengers witness brutal whale hunt slaughter
• pilot whales were slaughtered near a cruise ship carrying marine conservationists
• Cruise line apologizes after dozens of whales slaughtered in front of passengers

ORCA CEO Sally Hamilton said it seemed as if the whalers were "flaunting the hunt and taunting the tourists." U.K.-based Ambassador Cruise Line said passengers were aboard the Ambition in the port of Tórshavn in the Danish territory when they caught the highly scrutinized tradition, according to NPR. The mammals live in social pods of up to 20 individuals, organized into a larger school of hundreds of animals — a social structure that makes them easy targets for whalers, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The hunt, known as grindadráp, also called the "grind," which translates to "whale slaughter," happens regularly and throughout the year, according to Newsweek.

ABC News

So far this year, the government has registered 646 whale killings, including the 78 on Sunday and 445 on June 14. Long-finned pilot whales are technically a species of dolphin and are known for their bulbous head and sickle-shaped flippers. While they are not currently listed as an endangered species, they are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Ambassador Cruise Line said it was "incredibly disappointed" that the hunt unfolded near the ship and that it continues to "strongly object to this practice." The company asks their guests not to support the hunters by purchasing local whale and dolphin meat.

MORE: Man who calls himself 'Dolphin Dave' cited for continuously harassing humpback whale, dolphin pod: Officials

The core values and moral compass of any reputable business should keep any cruise line from having anything to do with a country which carries out such cruelty to animals in such a routine and widespread manner. But taking paying customers to the bloody Faroes is business as usual for most cruise lines. A representative for the Faroe Islands government did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment on Sunday's hunt. Nora Livingstone, chief executive and co-founder of Animal Experience International, a Canadian company that specializes in ethical animal travel, said tour operators should not steer travelers away from a country’s darker traditions or more disquieting customs. The British cruise line quickly issued an apology to guests who were blindsided by the graphic nature of the hunt, or Grindadráp in Faroese.

MORE: 21-foot killer whale dies after beaching itself on Florida coast

The Faroe Islands have been a semi-autonomous region since 1948 and are not part of the European Union, allowing whaling traditions to continue without restrictions. “We are very proud of this practice and we will continue as long as we decide,” Faroese whale expert Bjarni Mikkelsen told Yahoo in May. Images of the event showed dolphins of all ages drenched in blood on the shore and stuffed in bins. NCL promotes excursions to Torshavn, which it describes as the “colorful capital city of the Faroe Islands on the island of Steymoy (which) features a panoply of Nordic landscapes, with fjords, straits, deep green valleys, and a wonderful harbor dotted with colorful boats. Thorshavn began as a Viking settlement, and later became a thriving town, replete with quaint, colorful neighborhoods, and historic cathedrals and fortresses from the Middle Ages.” But no mention, of course, of the horrific whale slaughters. Ambassador needs to commit to pulling its ships from visiting the Faroe Islands in the future, like a few cruise companies have responsibly done.

"It's almost as if they are flaunting the hunt and taunting the tourists," she said. "At some point, the Faroese authorities will have to decide if its marine life is a more attractive tourist proposition when it is alive than when it is being killed," Hamilton added. The government of the Faroe Islands, however, has been clear on their stance of the whale hunting for several years. But a record single-day killing of more than 1,400 white-sided dolphins in 2021 brought the practice into intensified scrutiny. The chairman of the Faroese Whalers Association told the BBC that the size of that killing was purely accidental. "Whaling in the Faroe Islands has been regulated for centuries," the government wrote.

Cruise line apologizes for 'distress' after passengers witness brutal whale hunt slaughter

Cruise ship witnesses slaughter of dozens of pilot whales - The Jerusalem Post

Cruise ship witnesses slaughter of dozens of pilot whales.

Posted: Fri, 28 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The cruise docked in the Faroese port of Torshavn last Sunday as locals carried out their sixth hunt of the year. Nine calves no older than a month were among the 78 whales slaughtered, conservation and campaign group ORCA said. The government says the average catch is around 800 animals, an insignificant impact on the overall pilot whale population, which it says is around 778,000 animals. "Pilot whaling continues to be a non-commercial, community-based activity. Catches are distributed among participants and local communities free of charge and are utilized for food," said Magnason, in defense of the practice. In 2021, the Faroese government was forced to launch a review after it was found that 1,423 dolphins were killed in just one hunt.

"We don't support the hunt by coming here. We'll always use it as an opportunity to remind the authorities that tourists want to marvel at the wildlife and not to watch it being killed," they continued. "At some point, the long-term importance of tourist income will be recognized as being more sustainable, uncontroversial and appealing than an activity which has earned nothing for the Faroes other than condemnation globally." "Whaling in the Faroe Islands is conducted in accordance with international law and globally recognized principles of sustainable development," according to the island's government website. Passengers of the Ambassador Cruise Line had just arrived in the Faroe Islands when a group of small boats drove the whales to shallow water for... While the practice is largely opposed by international animal rights organizations, locals see the importance in sourcing their own, natural food.

The next day, British cruise ship operator Ambassador Cruise Line took to Twitter to apologize to the passengers for docking in the Faroe Islands at the same time a group carried out its regular hunting of pilot whales. Long-finned pilot whales, which are technically a species of dolphin, are a medium-sized marine mammal that dwells in the North Atlantic, known for their bulbous head and sickle-shaped flippers. They're not currently listed as an endangered species, but as a sign their population may be on the decline due to human activity, the species is listed under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the U.S.. Hunting whales and dolphins is a common and regulated practice in the islands, which are a self-governing, semi-autonomous region of Denmark. The local government describes the pilot whale hunt, also known as "grind," as "an ancient and integral part of Faroese food culture." As per Yahoo News Australia, 78 long-finned pilot whales, a species of oceanic dolphins were killed near the capital of Torshavn on Sunday.

Cruise line apologizes after dozens of whales slaughtered in front of passengers

"While traditional hunts of this type have taken place for many years in the Faroe Islands to sustain local communities, we strongly object to this outdated practice, which we believe is now becoming commercial, with meats sold in local supermarkets, for example." ORCA, a marine life advocacy group that seeks to protect whales and dolphins in European waters confirmed that some of its conservationists were also on the ship with tourists when the killings took place. That Sunday's slaughter unfolded near the cruise ship made it seem as if the whalers were "flaunting the hunt and taunting the tourists," many of whom were hoping to catch a glimpse of marine life in the wild, ORCA CEO Sally Hamilton said. Ambassador Cruise Line apologized to customers following the July 9 hunt, when locals killed 78 pilot whales – members of the dolphin family. The company issued a statement via Twitter in which it condemned the hunt and apologized to all the passengers aboard the ship at the time.

In 2014, Disney eliminated the port from its schedule; a few European cruise lines, such as AIDA and Hapag-Lloyd, followed suit. This week, Ambassador explained its reasons for continuing to visit the country, despite its objections to the hunt. Ambassador Cruise Line works in partnership with whale conservation charity ORCA, and two of their ocean experts were on deck at the time as over 40 boats and a helicopter herded and killed whales, including small calves, leaving the water blood red.

The cruise line argues boycotting the island wouldn’t make a difference to local attitudes about the mass killing of sea mammals. Sally Hamilton, the CEO of ORCA, said in a statement it "defies belief" that Faroese authorities allowed the hunt to take place in the view of the cruise ship. In his 2021 letter to the prime minister, the Ambassador Cruise Line chief executive hinted that the company might cut the Faroes from its itineraries if the country didn’t address the cruelty of the hunt.

Hunters used motorboats and a helicopter to corral the whales in a beach nearby before dragging them with hooks and butchering them with knives. "It defies belief that the Faroese authorities allowed this activity to take place in clear sight of a cruise ship packed with passengers sitting in dock," ORCA CEO Sally Hamilton said. "On one hand, they promote their pristine environment and spectacular wildlife while simultaneously wielding gaff hooks and lances to kill whales and dolphins. It's almost as if they are flaunting the hunt and taunting the tourists." Thousands of cruise ship passengers were left horrified after several pilot whales were slaughtered in front of them on July 9, ABC News reported.

Notably, the mass slaughter of pilot whales is a centuries-old hunting tradition in the Faroe Islands. The hunting of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands is known as the "grindadrap" or "grind" and is viewed as a tradition central to their cultural identity and a sustainable way to gather food, according to the local government. In the Faroe Islands, the hunting of pilot whales is known as the "grindadrap" or "grind." The Faroese view the tradition as central to their cultural identity and a sustainable way to gather food, according to a local government website. "It defies belief that the Faroese authorities allowed this activity to take place in clear sight of a cruise ship packed with passengers," she wrote in a statement shared with NPR. "At some point, the Faroese authorities will have to decide if its marine life is a more attractive tourist proposition when it is alive than when it is being killed." "We are utterly opposed to the commercial hunting of whales and dolphins in the Faroes," said Ambassador Cruise Line.

“We were incredibly disappointed that this hunt occurred, particularly at a time when our ship was in port, and have offered our sincere apologies to all those onboard who may have witnessed this distressing occurrence,” the company said in a statement. Once they reach the shallow waters, whales are driven onto the beach where waiting hunters kill them using knives and hooks. "We were incredibly disappointed that this hunt occurred," a spokesperson for Ambassador Cruise Line told Newsweek. "Particularly at a time when our ship was in port and have offered our sincere apologies to all those onboard who may have witnessed this distressing occurrence." “We strongly object to this outdated practice,” the cruise operator added, referencing the mass hunting tradition, which has long sparked outrage among conservationists. Princess Cruises encourages it guests to buy tours to the Faroes and advertises the capital as a “pretty town of 20,000 (which) rises gently up the hillside from the water’s edge, dotted with red painted government buildings and charming turf-roofed cottages.