While Japan may be in the hot seat with the international community for it's annual Flipper killing-spree, recently exposed by this year's Academy Award winning film The Cove, it is certainly not the only nation guilty of gruesome cetacean massacre. Last week, The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society captured shocking and highly disturbing images of 236 pilot whales brutally slaughtered in the town of Klaksvik in the Danish Faroe Islands. Ah yes, something is indeed very rotten in Denmark.
Living incognito and posing as a Swedish film student under the alias Frederik Nilsson, Sea Shepherd's Peter Hammarstedt was alerted to the annual "grind," as referred to by the Faroese, by a broadcast over the local radio station. Without hesitation, the veteran activist quickly arrived on the scene to document the grisly bloodbath that is considered a cultural tradition and rite of passage in the tiny island group situated approximately halfway between Britain and Iceland.
Hammarstedt, a Swedish native, offered his first hand knowledge on the matter earlier this week and recounted the harrowing experience that left him fleeing the seaside village once his true identity was discovered and he began to receive threats and was followed by local fisherman who recognized him for his prominent role on the hit television series, Whale Wars.
"An entire pod that once swam freely through the North Atlantic has been exterminated in a single blood bath," stated Hammarstedt on the Sea Shepherd website. "Unborn babies still attached to their mothers by the umbilical chord had been cut out of their mother's dead bodies and left to rot on the docks," added Hammarstedt, who photographed several dead pregnant females, infants and fetuses. "Pilot whale groups are strongly matriarchal; I can't imagine the fear and panic that these mothers must have felt as their families were wiped out in front of them."
While, there is no such thing as a pretty picture when it comes to the topic of whaling, this particular "method" is especially gruesome as is harshly evidenced by the grueling photos taken by Hammarstedt in order to expose the sheer cruelty behind the killings. This horrendous tradition, if not blatant act of 21st century barbarism, involves stranding and capturing pods of pilot whales and violently cutting out their spinal chords with long knives while simultaneously bludgeoning them to death with stones, spears, hatchets, clubs and axes. All the while young village children frolic in the shallow bloody waters and participate in the butchery of the visibly and audibly terrified whales in what is considered by locals as a community sporting event. According to Hammarstedt, "Among the male population, it is a coming of age ritual as a boy is allowed to partake in the actual killing when he becomes a teenager." While the grim images speak for themselves, Hammarstedt described the massacre of one of the grind's innocent victims in detail:
"One whale had five to six brutal chops to her head. The islanders basically used her as a chopping board. Her death would have been slow and extremely painful. Some whales are hacked repeatedly for up to four minutes before they finally die."
While there is some local criticism of the grind amongst villagers, most are reluctant to voice their opposition as cultural tradition runs deep in the small tight nit community of Norse descendants. Furthermore, townspeople are expected to participate in the bloody "festivities" that have taken place since the 1500s against the pristine fairy tale like back drop. According to Hammarstedt:
After the Klaksvik grind, several eyewitnesses criticized the grind to the media but all chose to remain anonymous. The Klaksvik grind was particularly cruel because the number of whales taken far exceed the carrying capacity of the shore. Since the whole community partakes in the grind, critical voices are rare.
Although listed as "strictly protected" under the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, also known as The Berne Convention, pilot whales in the Faroes Islands are anything but that. According to Sea Shepherd founder and lifelong champion of all whales and dolphins, Paul Watson, who referred to the Faroes as "The Ferocious Isles" in a recent email correspondence:
"The killing of the whales in the Faroe Islands is a violation of the European Union, specifically the Berne Convention but the Faroes as a Danish Protectorate are not a member of the EU although they directly benefit through Denmark from the EU. Denmark should be held accountable but apparently they are not.
While there is a little bit of grey area, added Hammarstedt, the Convention states clearly that,
"all signatories are responsible for co-ordinating their efforts for the protection of migratory species specified in Appendices II and III whose range extends into their territories. Long-finned pilot whales are classified under Appendix II and the Faroe Islands are a territory of Denmark. The Faroes have so-called "home rule", but Denmark is responsible for Faroese foreign policy."
The Faroes, whose fisheries products account for more than 95% of total exports, have historically relied upon the fishing industry as a primary food source, however current scientific research indicates that the levels of mercury found in cetaceans such as the pilot whale are toxic and dangerous for human consumption. However, "The Faroe Islands now have one of the highest standards of living in Europe and the grind is no longer necessary for subsistence," explained Hammarstedt. Furthermore, he added:
"Since a health advisory was put out in 2008 by the Faroese chief medical officer Paul Weihe, less pilot whale meat is consumed because of the high contents of heavy metal pollutants. So the grind continues to a large part because of cultural tradition."
When asked what people could do to become actively involved in bringing an end to the senseless thrill kills, Hammarstedt suggested hitting the Faroese in their wallets, a tactic not at all unfamiliar to Captain Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd who are well known for their successful efforts to bankrupt rogue maritime industries including the collapsing Canadian seal hunt and illegal Japanese commercial whaling. Noted Hammarstedt:
Forty thousand people visit the Faroes as tourists every year. There is huge potential for the tourism industry to grow. Iceland gets over half a million tourists a year. It's a shame for Faroese business that when you do a Google search for the Faroe Islands, images of dolphin slaughter are the first to come up. I would contact the Faroes Tourism Board and state that you won't travel there until the grind is stopped.
For more information on the grind, visit: www.seashepherd.org or contact the Tourism Board directly:
Samvit - Faroe Islands Enterprise
Bryggjubakki 12, P.O.Box 118
FO-110 Tórshavn, Tel. 306900, Fax 306901
tourist@tourist.fo, www.tourist.fo
www.visit-faroeislands.com, www.samvit.fo
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY: SEA SHEPHERD/Peter Hammarstedt
Follow Deborah Bassett on Twitter: www.twitter.com/debstact
http://www.denmark.net/blog/stop-whale-massacre-faroe-islands-483731.html
I have witnessed their keen memory and astute ability to recognize individuals over many years, even over many absent years. Their ability to learn and adapt rivals our own abilities as does their curiosity. Their ability to organize for hunting and defense as well as their cross parenting child care and tutorial skills are incredibly impressive. I would venture to say that one of the few qualities they actually lack is the instinctive drive to blindly follow outdated traditions, they appear to be much smarter than that.
I should point out that I hunt and fish, I am not a “tree hugger”, but there are certain limitations and responsibilities intrinsic to these activities that must be observed and while I do recognize that different cultures may have different opinions as to what is fair game, I cannot ever endorse or even stand idly by while any intelligent creature is senselessly slaughtered. Whether it is another human, an ape, or a whale, the answer is an emphatic, NO. If it is your tradition to hunt whales, then your tradition must be updated, discontinued. Some traditions should cease, case in point, throwing a virgin in to a volcano, senseless!
So please, amend the "ALL PHOTOS COURTESY: SEA SHEPHERD/Peter Hammarstedt" to "ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT COURTESY: SEA SHEPHERD/Peter Hammarstedt and Deborah Bassett".
Sincerely,
Deborah Bassett
Environmental Journalist
www.deborahbassett.com
Like other cultures with close connections to nature, Faroese have an engrained respect for living things around them. Was it our insatiable appetite for fish that brought about over-fishing? No.
Marginalised societies pay the price for over-consumption and the packaging of nature as "cute". Western conceptions of living should not dictate how traditional societies choose to live.
Pilot whales are not endangered and only small numbers of the population are killed every year. It is a non-commercial activity where the meat is distributed for free.
The hunt is controlled and led by a designated, experienced foreman. It is taken deeply seriously and men take pride in making sure that animals are killed efficiently with minimum pain. There is no indiscriminate slashing as described which would indeed be barbaric.
The Sea Sheppard report provides a skewed view of reality in the Faroes which does not portray the close link we have to our surroundings, lost by most western cultures.
The Faroes are a small community with a rough climate and dark stormy winters. Yes, we have a high standard of living but this is because of fishermen who go out for months in the North Atlantic. Yes we can buy pre-packed chicken like everyone else, but maybe we don’t want to be like everyone else.
my response: how is this possible if it was 500,000 years ago that homo sapiens replaced homo erectus with changes in the structure of the skull, chin, brow and differences in teeth yet we only started cooking 125,000 years ago?
ignorant person: So cooking happened after the skulls abruptly changed shape and that adaptation happens in a way that avoids cancer?
my response:It wasn't an abrupt change, it was the time between 1.8 million years ago and 500,000 years ago that the changes were evolving to give us the general body structure we have now. I'm going by my Evolution text timeline and timelines from scientific journals
Evolution is based on survival of the fittest/ survival of those healthy enough to reproduce and keep their species alive, those healthiest to reproduce the longest will have genetic traits that are carried down. This dictates the direction of evolution. Cancer, the biggest killers of our species, will also dictate the direction of evolution since it makes our species less fit to reproduce or kills off a person (and their offspring), even with modern medicine.
Much of the diet homo erectus and close ancestors to us was based on fruit which explains why we have no problem chewing and digesting raw fruit, as long as it's similar to what our ancestors ate- no pesticides/chemicals, naturally grown.
I'd say you have a better chance of getting people to give up clothes than giving up eating meat. And it would make your trolling that much more fun.
http://www.cancerproject.org/diet_cancer/facts/meat.php
We are animals but we sure as hell aren't carnivores and our bodies show us that with what we eat!
http://www.ecologos.org/anatomy.htm
Educate yourself before deciding on what to put into your body, tradition may be something passed down through generations but that doesn't mean it's the smart or just thing to do.
http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/omni.htm
"Humans are classic examples of omnivores in all relevant anatomical traits. There is no basis in anatomy or physiology for the assumption that humans are pre-adapted to the vegetarian diet. For that reason, the best arguments in support of a meat-free diet remain ecological, ethical, and health concerns.
[Dr. McArdle is a vegetarian and currently Scientific Advisor to The American Anti-Vivisection Society. He is an anatomist and a primatologist.]"
So a vegetarian writing on a vegetarian website who happens to be an anatomist and a primatologist says humans evolved as omnivores and ate meat. While a physician who isn't an anatomist or a primatologist and is writing for a group about which the AMA has this to say "The American Medical Association (AMA), which actually represents the medical profession, has called PCRM a “fringe organization” that uses “unethical tactics” and is “interested in perverting medical science.” " says humans are evolved as vegetarians.
I wonder which one rational people would chose to listen to?
And I've said it often, that check this page to see the facts: www.whaling.fo. You want to not believe that's why I can't convince you even if I know, it's just as good to kill whales than any other animals at that size.
Jupp Kerckerinck
www.sharkprotect.com
Animals Are Not Ours to Wear
Animals Are Not Ours to Experiment On
Animals Are Not Ours to Use for Entertainment
Animals Are Not Ours to Abuse in Any Way..............................................