Posts Tagged ‘Faroes’
Faroese Aquaculture Association calls for ban on dolphin hunts
The Faroese Aquaculture Association has joined calls for the country’s prime minister to ban dolphin hunting, following the terrible events last September when 1,423 Atlantic white-sided dolphins were killed in local waters. In a press release, the Association highlights the negative impact that criticism around the hunts has had on local businesses, which are very…
Read MoreUnderstanding whale and dolphin hunts in the Faroe Islands – why change is not easy
Most people in my home country of the Faroe Islands would like to see an end to the kind of dolphin hunt that sparked an outcry in September last year. Yet a poll has shown that a staggering 83% are in favour of continuing the traditional grindadráp, the slaughter of pilot whales. This is not…
Read MoreThe Faroes dolphin slaughter that sparked an outcry now brings hope
Since the slaughter of at least 1,423 Atlantic white-sided dolphins at Skálafjørður in my home country of the Faroe Islands, many people have raised their voices in outrage and concern – internationally, but also from within the Faroese community. I am Faroese and I feel the same way. That’s why I have joined WDC as…
Read MoreA Kingdom divided
It seems that whilst Denmark has been doing its utmost within the EU to pander to its overseas territories in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, the Danish citizens of these two distant lands are not so grateful. The Arctic Journal (20th October 2016) reports that Greenland and the Faroes are demanding that Denmark, their representative…
Read MoreWhilst the EU sacrifices political capital for Greenlandic whaling, what are Greenland and the Faroese doing?
So the EU Commission is extending itself to support Greenland’s demands for overturning the IWC’s accepted criteria for aboriginal subsistence whaling (ASW), but what is Greenland and the Faroe Islands, Denmark’s two North Atlantic overseas territories doing to help the EU Commission? Well, nothing it would seem. The Arctic Journal reports that whilst ‘foreign policy in…
Read MoreFaroese hunts cause tour operators to rethink trips to the country
The continuing brutal pilot whale hunts in the Faroes have reportedly prompted German shipping giant Hapag Lloyd, which operates luxury cruises that dock in the Faroe Islands, to issue an open letter to the country’s prime minister, Kaj Leo Johannesen, calling for an end to the controversial slaughter. In the letter, the company’s chief executive, Karl J…
Read MoreFirst Faroes hunt of the season kills 13 whales
It is believed that up to 13 whales have been killed in the first hunt (or grind) of the season in the Faroes. The grind took place in Fuglafirði with about 20 boats participating. Every year in the Faroe Islands, a territory of Denmark, hundreds of pilot whales and other species including bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic…
Read MoreThe Grind Season Continues in the Faroe Islands
Another pilot whale ‘grind’ has occurred on November 1 in Hvannasund on the Island of Vidoy where 85 pilot whales were killed. This is the first hunt of the season that has taken place in the killing bay of Hvannasund. The largest hunt of pilot whales occurred on July 30th in Fuglafjordur, Esturoy where an…
Read MoreWhales in the Faroe Islands – new opportunities?
On the heels of our recent trip to the Faroe Islands in mid-June, we are reeling from the intensity of the recent grinds that have occurred over the past month there. In just over the course of four weeks, nearly 1100 small cetaceans have been slaughtered, including long-finned pilot whales and Atlantic white-sided dolphins. In…
Read MoreA deadly season for whales and dolphins in the Faroe Islands
The horrific killing of whales and dolphins continues in the Faroe Islands. On August 13, two separate drive hunts occurred on the southern islands of Sandoy and Suduroy and resulted in the deaths of 565 individual whales and dolphins. Instead of pilot whales, the hunt in Hvalba targeted Atlantic white-sided dolphins, killing 430 dolphins. The…
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