Whale hunt
Faeroe Islands' cruel, shameful tradition
Whaling in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic has been practiced since about the time of the first Norse settlements on the islands. It is regulated by Faroese authorities but not by the International Whaling Commission as there are disagreements about the Commission's legal competency for small cetaceans. Around 950 Long-finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melaena) are killed annually, mainly during the summer. The hunts, called grindadráp in Faroese, are non-commercial and are organized on a community level; anyone can participate. The hunters first surround the pilot whales with a wide semicircle of boats. The boats then drive the pilot whales slowly into a bay or to the bottom of a fjord.
Many Faroese consider the hunt an important part of their culture and history. Animal-rights groups criticize the hunt as being cruel and unnecessary. As of the end of November 2008 the chief medical officers of the Faroe Islands have recommended that pilot whales no longer be considered fit for human consumption because of the levels of toxins in the whales.
Origins
Whale hunting has been a common phenomenon for a long time. It is known to have existed on Iceland, in the Hebrides, and in Shetland and Orkney.
Archaeological evidence from the early Norse settlement of the Faroe Islands c. 1200 years ago, in the form of pilot whale bones found in household remains in Gøta, indicates that the pilot whale has long had a central place in the everyday life of Faroe Islanders. The meat and blubber of the pilot whale have been an important part of the islanders’ staple diet. The blubber, in particular, has been highly valued both as food and for processing into oil, which was used for lighting fuel and other purposes. Parts of the skin of pilot whales were also used for ropes and lines, while stomachs were used as floats.
Rights have been regulated by law since medieval times and references are found in early Norwegian legal documents, while the oldest existing legal document with specific reference to the Faroes, the so-called Sheep Letter from 1298, includes rules for rights to, and shares of, both stranded whales as well as whales driven ashore.
Records of drive hunts in the Faroe Islands date back to 1584.
Many Faroese consider the hunt an important part of their culture and history. Animal-rights groups criticize the hunt as being cruel and unnecessary. As of the end of November 2008 the chief medical officers of the Faroe Islands have recommended that pilot whales no longer be considered fit for human consumption because of the levels of toxins in the whales.
Origins
Whale hunting has been a common phenomenon for a long time. It is known to have existed on Iceland, in the Hebrides, and in Shetland and Orkney.
Archaeological evidence from the early Norse settlement of the Faroe Islands c. 1200 years ago, in the form of pilot whale bones found in household remains in Gøta, indicates that the pilot whale has long had a central place in the everyday life of Faroe Islanders. The meat and blubber of the pilot whale have been an important part of the islanders’ staple diet. The blubber, in particular, has been highly valued both as food and for processing into oil, which was used for lighting fuel and other purposes. Parts of the skin of pilot whales were also used for ropes and lines, while stomachs were used as floats.
Rights have been regulated by law since medieval times and references are found in early Norwegian legal documents, while the oldest existing legal document with specific reference to the Faroes, the so-called Sheep Letter from 1298, includes rules for rights to, and shares of, both stranded whales as well as whales driven ashore.
Records of drive hunts in the Faroe Islands date back to 1584.
The sighting
The pilot whale hunt has a well-developed system of communication. Reverend Lucas Debes made reference to the system, which means that it had already developed by the seventeenth century. Historically the system takes place as such: When a school of pilot whales has been sighted, messengers are sent to spread the news among the inhabitants of the island involved (the Faroe Islands have 17 inhabited islands). At the same time, a bonfire is lit at a specific location, to inform those on the neighbouring island, where the same pattern then is followed.
It is believed that the system is one of the oldest elements concerning the pilot whale hunt. This is because a rather large number of boats and people are necessary to drive and kill a school of pilot whales. Today, however, the news of a sighting is relayed via mobile phones and other modern methods of communication.
Locations
The small village of Hvalvík (in English: “Whale Bay”) on the island Streymoy is a well-known place for beaching pilot whales.
The location must be well-suited to the purpose of beaching whales. It is against the law to kill pilot whales at locations with inappropriate conditions. The seabed must gradually slope from the shore out to deep water. Given such conditions, the chances are good that the whales can be driven fully ashore or close enough to the shore that they can be killed from land. When a school of pilot whales is sighted, boats gather behind them and slowly drive them towards the chosen authorized location, usually a bay or the end of a fjord. There are 17 towns and villages that have the right conditions, and therefore legal authorization, for beaching whales. These are Bøur, Fámjin, Fuglafjørður, Syðrugøta, Húsavík, Hvalba, Hvalvík, Hvannasund, Klaksvík, Miðvágur, Norðskáli, Sandavágur, Sandur, Tórshavn (in Sandagerði), Tvøroyri, Vágur, and Vestmanna. These towns and villages have featured most heavily in the statistics for whaling in the Faroes since 1854.
Regulations
At the beginning of the twentieth century, proposals to begin regulation of the whale hunt began to be proposed in the Faroese legislature. On 4 June 1907, the Danish Governor (in Faroese: amtmaður), as well as the sheriff, sent the first draft for whaling regulations to the Office of the Exchequer in Copenhagen. In the following years, a number of drafts were debated, and finally in 1932 the first Faroese whaling regulations were introduced. Since then, every detail of the pilot whale hunt has been carefully defined in the regulations. This means that the institution of the pilot whale hunt, which had previously largely been based on tradition, became an integrated part of society’s legal structure. In the regulations, one has institutionalized old customs and added new ordinances when old customs have proved insufficient or inappropriate.
Districts
Since 1832, the Faroe Islands have been divided into several whaling districts, although there is reason to believe that these districts already existed in some form prior to this date. These whaling districts are the basis for the distribution of the meat and blubber of the pilot whales caught. The catch is distributed in such a way that all the residents of the whaling district are given the same amount of the catch, regardless of whether they took part in the hunt or not.
Supervision
Before the enactment of home-rule in 1948, the Danish governor had the highest responsibility of supervising a pilot whale hunt. Today, supervision is the responsibility of the Faroese government. The government is charged with ensuring that the Pilot whaling regulations are respected and otherwise answer for preparations. In practice, this means that it is the local legislative representative who holds the highest command in a pilot whale hunt. It is his responsibility to both supervise the hunt and to distribute the catch.
The hunt
In accordance with the regulations, men gather on the shore to kill the beached whales, here in the town Vágur on Suðuroy, June 28, 2004.
Whale hunting equipment is legally restricted to hooks, ropes, and assessing-poles for measurement. A boat that has been equipped in such a manner is a pilot whale boat. The pilot whale boat is neither a traditional small Faroese rowing boat, nor is it a vehicle used by the coastal navigation, and it does not include the modern Faroese factory fleet. A pilot whale boat simply describes the temporary condition of a small boat during a hunt, which is otherwise used for line fishery or leisure purposes.
When the whalers have met the requirements specified above, the pilot whales can be driven. Whale drives take place only when a school of whales is sighted close to land, and when sea and weather conditions make this possible. The whaling regulations specify how the school of whales is to be driven ashore. The drive itself works by surrounding the pilot whales with a wide semicircle of boats. On the whaling-foreman’s signal, stones attached to lines are thrown into the water behind the pilot whales, thus the boats drive the whales towards an authorised beach or fjord, where the whales then beach themselves. It is not permitted to take whales on the ocean-side of the rope. A pilot whale drive is always under supervision of local authorities.
The pilot whales that are not beached were often stabbed in the blubber with a sharp hook, called a gaff (in Faroese: sóknarongul), and then pulled ashore. But, after allegations of animal cruelty, the Faroese whalers started using blunt gaffs (in Faroese: blásturongul) to pull the whales ashore by their blowholes. As of 2012, the ordinary gaff is used only to pull killed whales ashore. The blunt gaff became generally accepted since its invention in 1993, and it is not only more effective, but it is also more humane by comparison to the other gaff. However, anti-whaling groups, such as Greenpeace and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS), claim that the partial blocking and irritation of the airway hurts and panics the animal.
Furthermore, in 1985, the Faroe Islands outlawed the use of spears and harpoons in the hunt, as it considers these weapons to be unnecessarily cruel to animals.
Once ashore, the pilot whale is killed by cutting the dorsal area through to the spinal cord with a special whaling knife, a grindaknívur. Given the circumstances during a pilot whale hunt, the whaling knife is considered the safest and most effective equipment with which to kill the whales. The length of time it takes for a whale to die varies from a few seconds to a few minutes, with the average time being 30 seconds.
Other species of cetacean that may be taken
According to Faroese legislation, it is also permitted to hunt certain species of small cetaceans other than pilot whales. These include: bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus), and harbour porpoise (Phocaena phocaena).
The hunting of these dolphin species, with the exception of harbour porpoises, is carried out in the same way as the pilot whale hunt.
Harbour porpoises are killed with shotguns, and numbers taken must be reported to the relevant district sheriff. According to statistics, the number of harbour porpoises shot on an annual basis is very low—from 0 to 10 animals.
The above text was taken from Wikipedia - to see the article, including links and references, please click here.
The pilot whale hunt has a well-developed system of communication. Reverend Lucas Debes made reference to the system, which means that it had already developed by the seventeenth century. Historically the system takes place as such: When a school of pilot whales has been sighted, messengers are sent to spread the news among the inhabitants of the island involved (the Faroe Islands have 17 inhabited islands). At the same time, a bonfire is lit at a specific location, to inform those on the neighbouring island, where the same pattern then is followed.
It is believed that the system is one of the oldest elements concerning the pilot whale hunt. This is because a rather large number of boats and people are necessary to drive and kill a school of pilot whales. Today, however, the news of a sighting is relayed via mobile phones and other modern methods of communication.
Locations
The small village of Hvalvík (in English: “Whale Bay”) on the island Streymoy is a well-known place for beaching pilot whales.
The location must be well-suited to the purpose of beaching whales. It is against the law to kill pilot whales at locations with inappropriate conditions. The seabed must gradually slope from the shore out to deep water. Given such conditions, the chances are good that the whales can be driven fully ashore or close enough to the shore that they can be killed from land. When a school of pilot whales is sighted, boats gather behind them and slowly drive them towards the chosen authorized location, usually a bay or the end of a fjord. There are 17 towns and villages that have the right conditions, and therefore legal authorization, for beaching whales. These are Bøur, Fámjin, Fuglafjørður, Syðrugøta, Húsavík, Hvalba, Hvalvík, Hvannasund, Klaksvík, Miðvágur, Norðskáli, Sandavágur, Sandur, Tórshavn (in Sandagerði), Tvøroyri, Vágur, and Vestmanna. These towns and villages have featured most heavily in the statistics for whaling in the Faroes since 1854.
Regulations
At the beginning of the twentieth century, proposals to begin regulation of the whale hunt began to be proposed in the Faroese legislature. On 4 June 1907, the Danish Governor (in Faroese: amtmaður), as well as the sheriff, sent the first draft for whaling regulations to the Office of the Exchequer in Copenhagen. In the following years, a number of drafts were debated, and finally in 1932 the first Faroese whaling regulations were introduced. Since then, every detail of the pilot whale hunt has been carefully defined in the regulations. This means that the institution of the pilot whale hunt, which had previously largely been based on tradition, became an integrated part of society’s legal structure. In the regulations, one has institutionalized old customs and added new ordinances when old customs have proved insufficient or inappropriate.
Districts
Since 1832, the Faroe Islands have been divided into several whaling districts, although there is reason to believe that these districts already existed in some form prior to this date. These whaling districts are the basis for the distribution of the meat and blubber of the pilot whales caught. The catch is distributed in such a way that all the residents of the whaling district are given the same amount of the catch, regardless of whether they took part in the hunt or not.
Supervision
Before the enactment of home-rule in 1948, the Danish governor had the highest responsibility of supervising a pilot whale hunt. Today, supervision is the responsibility of the Faroese government. The government is charged with ensuring that the Pilot whaling regulations are respected and otherwise answer for preparations. In practice, this means that it is the local legislative representative who holds the highest command in a pilot whale hunt. It is his responsibility to both supervise the hunt and to distribute the catch.
The hunt
In accordance with the regulations, men gather on the shore to kill the beached whales, here in the town Vágur on Suðuroy, June 28, 2004.
Whale hunting equipment is legally restricted to hooks, ropes, and assessing-poles for measurement. A boat that has been equipped in such a manner is a pilot whale boat. The pilot whale boat is neither a traditional small Faroese rowing boat, nor is it a vehicle used by the coastal navigation, and it does not include the modern Faroese factory fleet. A pilot whale boat simply describes the temporary condition of a small boat during a hunt, which is otherwise used for line fishery or leisure purposes.
When the whalers have met the requirements specified above, the pilot whales can be driven. Whale drives take place only when a school of whales is sighted close to land, and when sea and weather conditions make this possible. The whaling regulations specify how the school of whales is to be driven ashore. The drive itself works by surrounding the pilot whales with a wide semicircle of boats. On the whaling-foreman’s signal, stones attached to lines are thrown into the water behind the pilot whales, thus the boats drive the whales towards an authorised beach or fjord, where the whales then beach themselves. It is not permitted to take whales on the ocean-side of the rope. A pilot whale drive is always under supervision of local authorities.
The pilot whales that are not beached were often stabbed in the blubber with a sharp hook, called a gaff (in Faroese: sóknarongul), and then pulled ashore. But, after allegations of animal cruelty, the Faroese whalers started using blunt gaffs (in Faroese: blásturongul) to pull the whales ashore by their blowholes. As of 2012, the ordinary gaff is used only to pull killed whales ashore. The blunt gaff became generally accepted since its invention in 1993, and it is not only more effective, but it is also more humane by comparison to the other gaff. However, anti-whaling groups, such as Greenpeace and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS), claim that the partial blocking and irritation of the airway hurts and panics the animal.
Furthermore, in 1985, the Faroe Islands outlawed the use of spears and harpoons in the hunt, as it considers these weapons to be unnecessarily cruel to animals.
Once ashore, the pilot whale is killed by cutting the dorsal area through to the spinal cord with a special whaling knife, a grindaknívur. Given the circumstances during a pilot whale hunt, the whaling knife is considered the safest and most effective equipment with which to kill the whales. The length of time it takes for a whale to die varies from a few seconds to a few minutes, with the average time being 30 seconds.
Other species of cetacean that may be taken
According to Faroese legislation, it is also permitted to hunt certain species of small cetaceans other than pilot whales. These include: bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus), and harbour porpoise (Phocaena phocaena).
The hunting of these dolphin species, with the exception of harbour porpoises, is carried out in the same way as the pilot whale hunt.
Harbour porpoises are killed with shotguns, and numbers taken must be reported to the relevant district sheriff. According to statistics, the number of harbour porpoises shot on an annual basis is very low—from 0 to 10 animals.
The above text was taken from Wikipedia - to see the article, including links and references, please click here.
In the next video, 5 minutes documenting parts of the pilot whale hunt having taken place in Sandur, Faroes Islands, on June 5th 2012, with about 120 pilot whales killed.
Filmed and edited by Hans Peter Roth
The 'Bern Convention'
The Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats classifies the long-finned pilot whale as “strictly protected” under Appendix II.
While the Faeroe Islands are not a member of the European Union, they remain a Danish Protectorate. In other words, even though the Faeroes are self-governing, Denmark controls the police, defense, foreign policy, and the currency. All trade with EU countries is handled through the Danish foreign ministry.
The primary reason for the Faeroes abstaining from joining the EU was in an effort to prevent the EU from meddling in their fishing policies. The slaughter of cetaceans is illegal within the European Union.
Denmark fails to abide by their obligations as a co-signer of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (also known as the Bern Convention).
Source
While the Faeroe Islands are not a member of the European Union, they remain a Danish Protectorate. In other words, even though the Faeroes are self-governing, Denmark controls the police, defense, foreign policy, and the currency. All trade with EU countries is handled through the Danish foreign ministry.
The primary reason for the Faeroes abstaining from joining the EU was in an effort to prevent the EU from meddling in their fishing policies. The slaughter of cetaceans is illegal within the European Union.
Denmark fails to abide by their obligations as a co-signer of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (also known as the Bern Convention).
Source
Petitions
to end the Faroe Islands' whale & dolphin slaughter
Hundreds of pilot whales are slaughtered every year on the Faroe Islands, a small group of islands north of Europe. Faroe men go out with boats to drive these animals into a fjord using nets to block their way back to sea. The whales then beach themselves, or are pulled ashore with a blunt hook lodged in their blowholes. Once beached and defenceless these whales are killed by having their spinal cords and major blood vessels cut. It can take up to three and a half minutes for a whale to eventually die.
Other than pilot whales, several species of dolphins are also killed using these same methods.
Due to the harsh climate that makes it difficult to grow food on the Faroe Islands, the meat and blubber of these animals was once an important part of the diet of the Faroe people. But nowadays their food supply is diverse and plentiful, the cruel whale and dolphin hunt continues primarily for the sake of 'tradition'.
Please show the Faroe Islands that the international community is strongly opposed to this cruel slaughter by signing the following 4 petitions by clicking on the button to get re-directed.
Thank you very much!
