I recently received a graphic email from MTV protesting against Denmark. Denmark hold sovereignty of the Faroe Islands and the Islanders continue to murder about a thousand long finned pilot whales in annual summer culls.
I love whales and my previous contacts from these oceanic giants in New Zealand and Antarctica is as close a religious experience as I´ll ever attain. I can understand the upset this email has caused.
Yet the Faroe inhabitants are following ancient traditions that date back at least 700 years old. Indeed the whole of the archipelago were mapped and ordered by their whaling districts since 1832. The meat plays a vital part of the Islanders diet and blubber oil is integral for fuel on these remote communities. Islanders follow age-old hunting methods incorporating spotting and signalling, then using rowing boats round up large pods and drive them to their deaths. They are hooked in their blow holes and dragged up to the shore. By cutting the dorsal fin the spinal chord is severed using a special knife causing death between just a few seconds and couple of minutes.
The cull has been over-seen since the early 20th Century, first by the Danish government and more recently by Faroe authorities. In 1985 both harpoons and spears were outlawed as they were seen as “cruel”. Now only hooks and ropes can be used in whale hunting. Each community gets an equal share of the corpses whether the family participated in the hunt or not.
Do these Islanders have a right to continue this barbaric practise and do we have the right to tell them to stop?
In 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.
1. I am completely against this senseless massacre.
ReplyDelete2. I am also against knee-jerk reactions that spread like wildfire through the Internet, without due care.
3. These photos were attached to an email I received recently, which was so riddled with grammatical and factual errors that I did some research to clarify things. Check out my blog, and you’ll see what I mean.
http://yardyyardyyardy.blogspot.com/2009/11/gotta-get-it-right.html
Don’t misunderstand me – I am very much against this outdated custom. But I warn those who attempt to change the mindset of the Faroese: it’s a total waste of time swearing, cursing, saying they should all be shot etc etc.
You need a considered approach, perhaps offering solutions, showing a mature understanding of their situation (not AGREEING with them at all – just being aware of their traditions and their thinking).
Generate a global groundswell with reason, clarity, purpose, calmness. Write to the Faroes Government, not the Danish one (it’s not the Danes’ issue, it’s the Faroes’ killings).
Aggression will only run off their backs and entrench their behaviour (they are after all descended from Vikings!!).
Good luck…read my blog and you’ll see what I mean.
PhilBee, NZ
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As with all info - try check it.
ReplyDeleteWhale blubber is eaten. It would be somewhat 100 years ago it was used for oil lamps.
If you are a true ecowarrior, you'd be happy to know that Faroese whaling is not contributing to global warming, since the meat hasn't been transported around the world. As most of the food you're eating is.