THE LAST SCREAM OF MOBY DICK AND FLIPPER IN THE FAROES

THE BRUTAL SLAUGHTERING OF WHALES AND DOLPHINS

     IN THE DANISH OWNED FAROE ISLANDS – TRADITION FULL OF BLOOD AND SHAME

 

“I have been honored to serve the whales, dolphins, seals – and all the other creatures on this Earth. Their beauty, intelligence, strength, and spirit have inspired me”

~Paul Watson

 

     The beauty of this Earth is not only visible through the breathtaking natural scenery but also through the rich wildlife. Wherever we look at, however we look at, our blue Planet is shining  with radiant energy of all living creatures and it gives a special joy to each of us who respects the Mother Nature and all Her children.

     From the highest mountains to the most hidden caves, from the loneliest eagle in the sky to the most dangerous shark in the ocean depth, this wildlife diversity never stop surprising  us and giving us the reason to fight more for preservation and conservation.

     The Marine biology has been always considered as the most specific discipline because it connects and reconnects the ties between people and undiscovered  ocean world. So many beautiful creatures which are residents of the unlimited ocean space  and drop of the human knowledge about some of them. During the years of industrial colonization of the water areas, the pollution and the dirty outcome o the greedy mankind’s economy turned the ocean wildlife diversity into survival phase and the marine scientists into last soldiers for all those amazing animals and plants. The environmentalism got a new and challenging task – to save the oceans and  oceans population,to save the whole world because ocean means life for all.

     There is no priority in defending ocean lives but there is a certain sign of urgency in addressing the hot issue. When it comes to the tradition in destruction of ocean animals, then it is the obligatory of our civilization to step in and deal with the bestiality. In any other case, we will lose what we haven’t owned ever.

     It seems that suffering of the whales and dolphins is the part of someone’s local customs and that is even more disturbing to know that civilized  Faroe Islands are leading this cruel bloody ceremony known as  grindadráp. In another words, this is the brutal slaughtering of pilots whales and dolphins which takes places every year. The whaling is strictly banned in Denmark but the Faroe Islands have laws that are independent of Denmark’s law and they are keep going with this mass killing of these precious mammals. PETA described it pretty much graphic:“Year after year, thousands of pilot whales, beaked whales and dolphins are chased into the bay by boats, where they are slaughtered.Metal hooks are driven into the stranded mammals’ blowholes before their spines are cut.The animals slowly bleed to death. Whole families are slaughtered, and some whales swim around in their family members’ blood for hours. Whales and dolphins are highly intelligent creatures and feel pain and fear every bit as much as we do.” 

     The Conservation Society  Sea Shepherd notes the following regarding the strange tradition of Faroese people:” I heard that the grind was conducted for food and for tradition. I heard from people who claimed to have participated in grinds that it is exciting. I heard that a grind provides an opportunity for people to break up their daily routines and gather with friends and neighbors. Who knows if any of these is a true or encompassing statement, but it is what a couple of ‘tourists’ were told by some members of the Faroese community.In general, Iceland, Norway, and Japan do not condemn the Faroese because Iceland, Norway, and Japan ignore international prohibitions on killing whales. However, most developed countries on the planet prohibit the killing of cetaceans, large and small. In the United States, one can be sentenced to serious prison time for hurting or killing a cetacean. As citizens of the world have become aware of the grind in the Faroe Islands, condemnation of the practice and its practitioners has increased. It is a shame that such a beautiful place as the Faroe Islands, with its rich cultural aspects and very modern and connected infrastructure, is vilified because of the grind. Vilified it is, though, and only the Faroese can turn that around by ending the grind. Trade and tourism are likely to be victims of a continued grind. Yet, travellers from the around the world would pay good money to experience living pilot whales and other small cetaceans in the wild in the waters off the Faroe Islands. The pilot whales are simply far more valuable to the Faroese economy alive than dead.From the outside, it has appeared that the slaughter or ‘grind’ is a sport or a right of passage. I have come to understand that this is not true, at least for most Faroese people.”

     This barbarian ritual is usually linked up with the  controversial importance of the pilot whale meat and blubber, which is adopted as the part of the local food and diet. The problem about the meat is undefined. On one point, meat s recommended at least once in a month and it is not recommended so much to women who are planing children. On the other point, it is taken as very healthy but not necessary consumed. It has to do something with the old psychology and period of  starving for local people so the pilot whale meat is experienced as the GIFT FROM GOD.

     Every year, the horrific mass killing of pilot whales and dolphins turns the waters around this Islands into red. Everywhere is blood from the cruelly tortured and killed animals, first trapped and then dragged and massacred. The whole families are participating in this hunt like that is baseball  tournament. Just in 2015, on the beaches of Bøur and Tórshavn were killed more than 250 innocent whales. Locals dressed into wet suits were laughing while they were chopping majestic mammals, often even in the front of very small children. The Daily Mail comes with the story that  Wyanda Lublink, captain of the Brigitte Bardot told to Sea Shepherd activists that he believed that two Danish naval vessels HDMS Triton and HDMS Knud Rasmussen were there to ensure the safe hunt:“It was perfectly clear to me that the Danish Navy was present at Bøur to guard the grindadráp, and that the slaughter would proceed with the full consent of the Danish Navy.” If that is a true, then it is more than a shame for a Denmark as an anti-whaling member nation of the EU. Denmark gives  obviously  strong support   to these barbaric ceremony but then it must be up to the other countries to stand up against this and to push Denmark to deal with back-warded rituals on the Faroe Islands.Behind the governmental background game, the citizens of Denmark condemn this practice and they are fighting against it.

     This wildlife crime is not only committed against pilot whales but also against the highly intelligent Calderon dolphins. The both of them are not the property of Faroe Islands or Denmark but the heritage and responsibility of the whole world. The International Whaling Commission which should be independent international body is usually considered and presented as corrupted authority what is killing instead of saving whales. According to some ocean protection experts, this organization is the root of all wrong issued permits and illegal hunting and should be sent to history.

     There is no possibility that we can stop this summer  horror but what we can do is to urge that it will be forever stopped and ban in the future so our whales and dolphins could be protected for the new coming generations.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/255/529/101/urge-end-of-whale-hunts-with-help-from-danish-navy/

http://action.peta.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=5&ea.campaign.id=1911

     The pilot whales and the Calderon dolphins are not meat for the  local primitive believers on the  Faroe Islands but the  ocean beauty ,smart marine animals which are able to understand and feel pain. The way how they are slaughtered and killed is showing the total failure of humanity and absence of global compassion. We must change it. We must save Moby Dick and Flipper so they can dance freely where they belong to or we will be cursed for their last scream.