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A British cruise line has apologized to passengers who witnessed the slaughter of nearly 80 pilot whales in the Faroe Islands on Sunday. Ambassador Cruise Line guests arrived in the port of the capital Torshavn, where a traditional hunt had turned the sea red. Hunters used motor boats and a helicopter to confine the whales on a nearby beach before dragging them with hooks and butchering them with knives.
The British cruise line fast issued an apology for guests who were surprised by the graphic nature of the hunt, or grindadráp in Faroese.
“We were incredibly disappointed that this hunt took place, particularly at the time our ship was in port, and offer our sincere apologies to everyone on board who may have witnessed this disturbing incident,” the company said in a statement.
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Although the carnage caught the cruise line arriving in Tórshavn by surprise, the company was aware of the annual event. In a 2021 letter to the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands, chief executive Christian Verhounig expressed his dismay at a dolphin hunt in September. In the same year, the company partnered with ORCA, a UK-based marine conservation group, to launch an anti-whaling and anti-dolphin hunting campaign.
Before the trip in July, the ORCA and the Ambassador had tried to raise the issue with the Faroese government and the Visit Faroe Islands tourism board. Their attempts failed. The cruise line is also urging its guests and crew to opt out of the industry and not buy or eat whale or dolphin meat. The tourism bureau did not respond to Washington Post requests for comment.
“Although traditional hunts of this type have been carried out in the Faroe Islands for many years to support the local community, we strongly oppose this outdated practice which we believe is now being used commercially and selling meat in local supermarkets,” das explained Company.
For centuries, islanders on the isolated North Atlantic archipelago depended on the sea for their livelihood. Whaling was their livelihood and lifeline. Today, the country with around 53,000 inhabitants has modern supermarkets and even a Burger King. However, Faroe Islands still participate in whaling, a community activity that can be traced back to 1584 when government records say four pilot whales were killed. Images of a beach lined with pilot whales evoke the dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan, portrayed in the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary The Cove.
The meat and blubber are distributed among the islanders, one of the defenses of the hunt: it serves to feed the people. However, health experts warn that the whales contain dangerous levels of mercury, heavy metals and pollutants. According to the British Whale and Dolphin Conservation Organisation, recent studies show a direct link between diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis of the carotid arteries in adult Faroe Islands and the consumption of pilot whale meat. Children and pregnant women are particularly at risk.
The “grind” takes place over several months, roughly from April to October, depending on the severity of the weather. Summer is often high season. “What do you expect when you travel to the Faroe Islands in July?” said John Hourston, founder of the Blue Planet Society, a UK-based group campaigning to end hunting. “The [cruise line] should have known better.”
Long-finned pilot whales are among the largest members of the dolphin family and are the second largest after the killer whale. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the highly intelligent animals are 19 to 25 feet long and can weigh up to 5,000 pounds. They have round, bulbous heads and upturned mouths that resemble a smile.
Visit Faroe Islands states on its website that around 800 pilot whales are killed each year, a figure the government believes is sustainable. Whale and Dolphin Conservation estimates the global pilot whale population to be between 800,000 and 1 million, and around 100,000 of these live in Faroe waters. So far this year, the government has recorded 646 whale kills, including 78 on Sunday and 445 on June 14.
In addition to pilot whales, Hourston said hunters are also targeting other small cetaceans and dolphins, such as killer whales, Atlantic white-sided dolphins and northern bottlenose dolphins. In September 2021, the participants killed more than 1,400 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, an alarming number that forced the government to limit the number to 500. According to Whale and Dolphin Conservation, there is no such quota for pilot whales. According to the group, more than 20,000 marine mammals have died in these hunts over the past 20 years.
“It’s a blood sport. It’s no more than a summer job,” Hourston said. “Any little dolphin or little whale is fair game.”
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The European Union bans the killing of whales and dolphins; However, the self-governing country of the Kingdom of Denmark is not a member of the organization. Government officials said hunting techniques have improved over the years, although animal protection groups disagree. Standard practice is to attach a hook in the blowhole, drag the animal to the beach, sever its spinal cord and blood supply, and slit its throat with a whaling knife.
“It’s barbaric and torture, and it’s being carried out on such a large scale,” Hourston said. “These people are going to need advice after seeing this.”
In his 2021 letter to the Prime Minister, the chief executive of Ambassador Cruise Line hinted that the company might remove the Faroe Islands from its itineraries if the country did not act against the cruelty of hunting. In 2014, Disney removed the port from its schedule; Some European cruise lines such as AIDA and Hapag-Lloyd followed suit. This week, the ambassador explained his reasons for continuing to visit the country despite objecting to the hunt.
“We are not supporting the hunt by coming here,” the company said. “We will always use it as an opportunity to remind authorities that tourists want to admire wildlife, not watch them being killed.”
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Nora Livingstone, chief executive and co-founder of Animal Experience International, a Canadian company that specializes in ethical animal travel, said tour operators shouldn’t alienate travelers from a country’s darker traditions or more troubling customs. Exposure is a form of education and can be a key driver of change.
“It’s extremely distressing to witness the whaling hunt, but turning away doesn’t help the animals being killed, nor does giving a voice to those participating in the hunt,” she said via email. “Sealing passengers only results in them not knowing about the traditional culture of the place they are visiting, nor about the creatures that are being slaughtered.”
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