Whaling in the Faroe Islands - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...

in the Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...

in the North Atlantic has been practiced since about the time of the first Norse settlements on the islands. It is regulated by Faroese authorities but not by the International Whaling Commission

International Whaling Commission

The International Whaling Commission is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling , which was signed in Washington, D.C...

as there are disagreements about the Commission's competency for small cetaceans. Around 950 Long-finned Pilot Whale

Long-finned Pilot Whale

The long-finned pilot whale is one of the two species of cetacean in the genus Globicephala. It belongs to the oceanic dolphin family , though its behavior is closer to that of the larger whales.-Description:...

s (Globicephala melaena) are killed annually, mainly during the summer. The hunts, called "grindadráp" in Faroese

Faroese language

Faroese , is an Insular Nordic language spoken by 48,000 people in the Faroe Islands and about 25,000 Faroese people in Denmark and elsewhere...

, are non-commercial and are organized on a community level; anyone can participate. The hunters first surround the pilot whales with a wide semicircle of boats. The boats then drive the pilot whales slowly into a bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

or to the bottom of a fjord

Fjord

Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

.

Most Faroese consider the hunt an important part of their culture and history. Animal-rights groups criticize the hunt as being cruel and unnecessary. As of the end of 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.

Origins

Whale hunting has been a common phenomenon for a long time. It is known to have existed on Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

, in the Hebrides

Hebrides

The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...

, and in Shetland and Orkney.

Archaeological evidence from the early Norse

Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...

settlement of the Faroe Islands c. 1200 years ago, in the form of pilot whale bones found in household remains in Gøta, indicates that the pilot whale has long had a central place in the everyday life of Faroe Islanders. The meat

Meat

Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...

and blubber

Blubber

Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue found under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds and sirenians.-Description:Lipid-rich, collagen fiber–laced blubber comprises the hypodermis and covers the whole body, except for parts of the appendages, strongly attached to the musculature...

of the pilot whale has been an important part of the islanders' staple diet. The blubber, in particular, has been highly valued both as food

Food

Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...

and for processing into oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

, which was used for lighting fuel and other purposes. Parts of the skin

Skin

-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...

of pilot whales were also used for rope

Rope

A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...

s and lines

Fishing line

A fishing line is a cord used or made for angling. Important parameters of a fishing line are its length, material, and weight...

, while stomachs were used as floats.

Rights have been regulated by law since medieval times and references are found in early Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

legal documents, while the oldest existing legal document with specific reference to the Faroes, the so-called Sheep Letter from 1298, includes rules for rights to, and shares of both stranded whales as well as whales driven ashore.

Records of drive hunts in the Faroe Islands date back to 1584.

The sighting

The pilot whale hunt has a well-developed system of communication. Reverend Lucas Debes

Lucas Debes

Lucas Jacobsøn Debes was a Danish priest, topographer and celebrated writer about the Faroe Islands. He wrote the first book about the Faroes, which was printed and draw the first detailed map of the islands.-His Arrival to Tórshavn:Debes came to the Faroe Islands in 1652 as a curate...

made reference to the system, which means that it had already developed by the seventeenth century. Historically the system takes place as such: When a school of pilot whales has been sighted, messengers are sent to spread the news among the inhabitants of the island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

involved (the Faroe Islands have 17 inhabited islands). At the same time, a bonfire

Bonfire

A bonfire is a controlled outdoor fire used for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Celebratory bonfires are typically designed to burn quickly and may be very large...

is lit at a specific location, to inform those on the neighbouring island, where the same pattern then is followed.

It is believed that the system is one of the oldest elements concerning the pilot whale hunt. This is because a rather large number of boats and people are necessary to drive and kill a school of pilot whales. Today, however, the news of a sighting is relayed via mobile phones and other modern methods of communication.

Locations

The location must be well-suited to the purpose of beaching whales. It is against the law to kill pilot whales at locations with inappropriate conditions. The seabed

Seabed

The seabed is the bottom of the ocean.- Ocean structure :Most of the oceans have a common structure, created by common physical phenomena, mainly from tectonic movement, and sediment from various sources...

must gradually slope from the shore

Shore

A shore or shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In Physical Oceanography a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past and present, while the beach is at the edge of the shore,...

out to deep water. Given such conditions, the chances are good that the whales can be driven fully ashore or close enough to the shore that they can be secured and killed from land. When a school of pilot whales is sighted, boats gather behind the whales and slowly drive them towards the chosen authorized location, usually a bay

Bay

or the end of a fjord

Fjord

. There are 17 towns and villages that have the right conditions, and therefore legal authorization, for beaching whales. These are Bøur

Bøur

Bøur is a village in the Sørvágs Kommuna of the Faroe Islands, 4 km west of Sørvágur, with a population of 70 . Its location is and its postal code is FO 386....

, Fámjin

Fámjin

Fámjin is a village, located in the middle of the coastline on the western side of Suðuroy, the southernmost island in Faroe Islands. It has a population of around 100....

, Fuglafjørður

Fuglafjørður

Fuglafjørður is a village on Eysturoy's east coast in the Faroe Islands. Its name means "fjord of birds".* Population: 1562* Location: * Postal code : FO 530* Municipality: Fuglafjardar* Football team: ÍF Fuglafjørður...

, Syðrugøta

Syðrugøta

Syðrugøta is a village on southwest of the Faroese island of Eysturoy in the municipality of Gøta. The 2005 population was 410. Its postal code is FO 513. The famous Faroese singer Eivør Pálsdóttir was born here in 1983. Also Tróndur í Gøtu the most famous viking in Faroese history is said to have...

, Húsavík

Húsavík, Faroe Islands

Húsavík is an old village in the Faroe Islands on the east of the Isle of Sandoy.*Population: 88*Postal code : FO 230*Location: *Municipality: Húsavikar...

, Hvalba

Hvalba

Hvalba is a village and a municipality, which consists of Hvalba, Nes-Hvalba and Sandvík. The total population of Hvalba Municipality was 723 as of 1 January 2010; the population of Hvalba and Nes was 626 and the population of Sandvík was 97. Hvalba is one of the larger villages in the Faroe...

, Hvalvík

Hvalvík

Hvalvík is a village in the Faroe Islands, located in a valley on the east coast of the island of Streymoy.It is the southern half of a twin-village situated on both sides of the valley. The villages are divided by the river Stórá. The northern half which is approximately the same size is called...

, Hvannasund

Hvannasund

Hvannasund is a village and municipality in the Faroe Islands, an autonomous region in Denmark....

, Klaksvík

Klaksvík

Klaksvík is the second largest town of the Faroe Islands.The town is located on Borðoy, which is one of the northernmost islands ....

, Miðvágur

Miðvágur

Miðvágur is a village in the Faroe Islands on Vágar. It has been a municipality until 1 January, 2009 when it fused with Sandavágur into Vága kommuna.Located on the south coast of the island of Vágar, Miðvágur is the largest town on this Faroese island...

, Norðskáli

Norðskáli

Norðskáli is a settlement in the Faroe Islands on the island of Eysturoy at , a few kilometres north of Oyri. Its name means north dwelling and its population is 249....

, Sandavágur

Sandavágur

The town of Sandavágur lies on the south coast of the Faroese island of Vágar, and has been voted the most well-kept village in the Faroes twice. The name Sandavágur means sandy creek and refers to the beach down by the inlet. From one point in Sandavágur you can get a view of all the southern...

, Sandur

Sandur (Faroe Islands)

Sandur is a village on the south coast of the island of Sandoy in the Faroe Islands. The Sandur hoard, dating to the end of the 11th century, suggests the long history of the village. In January 2010 the population stood at 558....

, Tórshavn

Tórshavn

Tórshavn is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the high mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the high Kirkjubøreyn...

(in Sandagerði), Tvøroyri

Tvøroyri

Tvøroyri lies picturesquely on the north side of the Trongisvágsfjørður on the east coast of Suðuroy, Faroe Islands....

, Vágur

Vágur

Vágur meaning Bay is a town on the Faroe Islands of Suðuroy, it is situated on the east coast of the island on the Vágsfjørður fjord, and dates from the fourteenth century. Expansion has meant that the nearby town of Nes is now a suburb of Vágur...

, and Vestmanna

Vestmanna

Vestmanna is a town in the Faroe Islands on the west of the island of Streymoy. It was formerly a ferry port, until an undersea tunnel was built from Vágar to Kvívík and Stykkið. The cliffs west of Vestmanna, Vestmannabjørgini are very popular for excursions by boat.A 'Vestmann' was a "Westman",...

. These towns and villages have featured most heavily in the statistics for whaling in the Faroes since 1854.

Regulations

At the beginning of the twentieth century, proposals to begin regulation of the whale hunt began to be proposed in the Faroese legislature. On 4 June 1907, the Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

(in Faroese amtmaður) as well as the sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

sent the first draft for whaling regulation

Regulation

Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...

s to the Office of the Exchequer in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

. In the following years, a number of drafts were debated, and finally in 1932 the first Faroese whaling regulations were introduced. Since then, every detail of the pilot whale hunt has been carefully defined in the regulations. This means that the institution of the pilot whale hunt, which had previously largely been based on tradition, became an integrated part of society's legal structure. In the regulations one has institutionalized old customs

Convention (norm)

A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms or criteria, often taking the form of a custom....

and added new ordinances when old customs have proved insufficient or inappropriate.

Districts

Since 1832, the Faroe Islands have been divided into several whaling district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

s, although there is reason to believe that these districts already existed in some form prior to this date. These whaling districts are the basis for the distribution of the meat

Meat

Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...

and blubber

Blubber

of the pilot whales caught. The catch is distributed in such a way that all the residents of the whaling district are given the same amount of the catch, regardless of whether they took part in the hunt or not.

Supervision

Before the enactment of home-rule in 1948, the Danish governor had the highest responsibility of supervising a pilot whale hunt. Today, supervision is the responsibility of the Faroese government. The government is charged with ensuring that the Pilot whaling regulations are respected and otherwise answer for preparations. In practice, this means that it is the local legislative representative, who holds the highest command in a pilot whale hunt. It is his responsibility to both supervise the hunt and to distribute the catch.

The hunt

Whale hunting equipment is legally restricted to hooks, rope

Rope

A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...

s, and assessing-poles for measurement. A boat that has been equipped in such a manner is a pilot whale boat. The pilot whale boat is not a traditional small Faroese rowing boat, neither is it a vehicle used by the coastal navigation, and it does not include the modern Faroese factory fleet. A pilot whale boat simply describes the temporary condition of a small boat during a hunt, which is otherwise used for line fishery or leisure purposes.

When the whalers have met the requirements specified above, the pilot whales can be driven. Whale drives only take place when a school of whales is sighted close to land, and when sea and weather conditions make them possible. The whaling regulations specify how the school of whales is to be driven ashore. The drive itself works by surrounding the pilot whales with a wide semicircle of boats. On the whaling-foreman

Whaling-foreman

The whaling foreman is in Faroese known as a grindaformaður. He is a central figure in the Faroese pilot whale hunt.He has the following responsibilities in a hunt:* He is responsible for organising the pilot whale drives...

's signal, stones attached to lines are thrown into the water behind the pilot whales, thus the boats drive the whales towards an authorised beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

or fjord

Fjord

, where the whales then beach themselves. It is not permitted to take whales on the ocean-side of the rope. A pilot whale drive is always under supervision of local authorities.

The pilot whales that are not beached were often stabbed in the blubber

Blubber

with a sharp hook, called a gaff

Gaff (fishing)

In fishing, a gaff is a pole with a sharp hook on the end that is used to stab a large fish and then lift the fish into the boat or onto shore. Ideally, the hook is placed under the backbone. Gaffs are used when the weight of the fish exceeds the breaking point of the fishing line or the fishing pole...

(in Faroese sóknarongul), and then pulled ashore. But, after allegations of animal cruelty, the Faroese whalers started using blunt gaffs (in Faroese blásturongul) to pull the whales ashore by their blowholes

Blowhole (biology)

In biology, a blowhole is the hole at the top of a cetacean's head through which the animal breathes air. It is homologous with the nostril of other mammals. As whales reach the water surface to breathe, they will forcefully expel air through the blowhole. Not only is air expelled, but mucus and...

. Today, the ordinary gaff is only being used to pull killed whales ashore. The blunt gaff became generally accepted since its invention in 1993, and it is not only more effective, but it is also more humane by comparison to the other gaff. However, anti-whaling groups such as Greenpeace

Greenpeace

Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...

and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society is a wildlife charity that is dedicated solely to the worldwide conservation and welfare of all whales, dolphins and porpoises...

(WDCS) claim that the partial blocking and irritation of the airway hurts and panics the animal.

Furthermore, in 1985 the Faroe Islands outlawed the use of spear

Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...

s and harpoon

Harpoon

A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...

s in the hunt, as it considers these weapons to be unnecessarily cruel to animals.

Once ashore the pilot whale is killed by cutting the dorsal

Dorsum (biology)

In anatomy, the dorsum is the upper side of animals that typically run, fly, or swim in a horizontal position, and the back side of animals that walk upright. In vertebrates the dorsum contains the backbone. The term dorsal refers to anatomical structures that are either situated toward or grow...

area through to the spinal cord

Spinal cord

The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the brain . The brain and spinal cord together make up the central nervous system...

with a special whaling knife, a grindaknívur

Grindaknívur

Grindaknívur , is the Faroese pilot whale hunt's most distinguished equipment. The haft and sheath are usually made of high quality wood and have inlay of brass and silver....

. Given the circumstances during a pilot whale hunt, the whaling knife is considered the safest and most effective equipment with which to kill the whales. The length it takes for a whale to die varies between a few seconds to a few minutes, with the average time being 30 seconds.

Other Species of cetacean that may be taken

According to Faroese legislation it is also permitted to hunt certain species of small cetaceans other than pilot whales. These include: bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus); Atlantic white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris); Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus); and harbour porpoise ( Phocaena phocaena).

The hunting of these dolphin species, with the exception of harbour porpoises, is carried out in the same way as the pilot whale hunt.

Harbour porpoises are killed with shotguns and numbers taken must be reported to the relevant district sheriff. According to statistics, the number of harbour porpoises shot on an annual basis is very low - from 0 to 10 animals.

Commercial whaling for larger whale species (fin and minke whales) in the Faroese has not been carried out since 1984.

Impression

During the cut of a pilot whale's spine, their main arteries also get cut. Because of this the surrounding sea tends to turn a bloody red. This vivid imagery is often used by anti-whaling groups in their campaigns against the hunt. These images of a blood-red sea can often have a shocking effect on bystanders.

Sith harpoons, spears, and firearms are prohibited, the whalers must be on the shoreline of the water and kill each individual whale.

Ólavur Sjúrðaberg, the chairman of the Faroese Pilot Whaler’s Association, describes the pilot whale hunt in such a way: "I'm sure that no one who kills his own animals for food is unmoved by what he does. You want it done as quickly and with as little suffering as possible for the animal."

The pilot whale as a source of food

Most part of traditional Faroese food consists of flesh. Because of the rugged, rocky Faroese terrain, grain

GRAIN

GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...

and vegetables have not been able to grow very well as only about 2% of the 1,393 km² is arable land and none is set aside for permanent crops. During the winter months the Faroe Islanders´ only option was to mostly eat salted or dried food (this includes meat, pilot whale meat

Whale meat

Whale meat is the flesh of whales used for consumption by humans or other animals. It is prepared in various ways, and is historically part of the diet and cuisine of various communities that live near an ocean, including those of Japan, Norway, Iceland, and the Arctic...

, seabird

Seabird

Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...

s, and fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

). This means that over the centuries, the pilot whale has been an important source of food and vitamins to the isolated population on the North Atlantic archipelago.

The pilot whale meat and blubber is stored, prepared, and eaten in the Faroese households. This also means that whale meat is not available at supermarket

Supermarket

A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...

s. Although the Faroe Islands' main export is fish, this does not include pilot whale meat or blubber. An annual catch of 956 pilot whales (1990–1999) is roughly equivalent to 500 tonnes of meat and blubber, some 30% of all meat produced locally in the Faroe Islands.

Food preparation

Whale meat and blubber is a Faroese specialty. Well into the last century meat and blubber from the pilot whale meant food for a long time. Everybody got a share, as is the custom to this day. The meat and blubber can be stored and prepared in a variety of ways such as Tvøst og spik. When fresh, the meat is boiled or served as steak

Steak

A steak is a cut of meat . Most are cut perpendicular to the muscle fibers, improving the perceived tenderness of the meat. In North America, steaks are typically served grilled, pan-fried, or broiled. The more tender cuts from the loin and rib are cooked quickly, using dry heat, and served whole...

s. A pilot whale steak is in Faroese called grindabúffur. Whale meat with blubber and potatoes in their skins are put in to a saucepan with salt

Salt

In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...

and then boiled for an hour. Slivers of the blubber are also a popular accompaniment to dried fish.

The traditional preservation is by salting

Salting (food)

Salting is the preservation of food with dry edible salt. It is related to pickling . It is one of the oldest methods of preserving food, and two historically significant salt-cured foods are dried and salted cod and salt-cured meat.Salting is used because most bacteria, fungi and other potentially...

or outdoor wind-drying. Today the meat and blubber is often kept in the freezer. The traditional way of storage is still being practiced however, particularly in the villages.

Tourists in the Faroe Islands who would like to try pilot whale meat and other Faroese food specialties can do so at different cultural events, which are mostly organized in the summer period. Tourists that consider consuming pilot whale or cetacean meat on a visit to the Faroe Islands should note the latest warnings from the Faroese Chief Medical Officers mentioned below.

Cultural importance

The pilot whale hunt is an integral part of Faroese social

Social

The term social refers to a characteristic of living organisms...

culture

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

. As the attenders of a grindadráp usually are men, women do not actively take part in it, but are bystanders or onlookers. This is part of the traditional division of labor concerning grindadráp that is centuries old, and has not changed over time.

In Faroese literature

Faroese literature

In the Middle Ages many poems and stories were handed down orally. These works were split into the following divisions: sagnir , ævintyr and kvæði . These were eventually written down in the 19th century.In the 13th century the Færeyinga saga was written in Iceland...

and art

Art of the Faroe Islands

Faroese art is art by artists living in the Faroe Islands and art by Faroese nationals living abroad. In the Faroe Islands art is an important part of everyday life and in the public debate. It may be the special light in the Faroes which causes so many to express themselves in painting. The...

, grindadráp is an important motif. The grindadráp paintings by Sámal Joensen-Mikines

Sámal Joensen-Mikines

Sámuel Joensen-Mikines was a Faroese painter. He was the first recognised painter of the Faroe Islands and one of the Faroe Islands most important artists. Many of his paintings have been displayed on Faroese stamps....

rank internationally as some of his most important. They are part of a permanent exhibition in the Faroese art museum in the capital Tórshavn

Tórshavn

. The Danish governor of the Faroe Islands Christian Pløyen wrote the famous Pilot Whaling song, a Faroese ballad

Kvæði

Kvæði are the old ballads of the Faroe Islands, accompanied by the Faroese dance....

written in Danish

Danish language

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...

entitled "A New Song about the Pilot Whale Hunt on the Faroes". It was written during his term of office (1830–1847) and was printed in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

in 1835.

The Danish chorus line is Raske drenge, grind at dræbe det er vor lyst. In English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

:
Tough boys, to slay the grind that's our desire.

These old verses are rarely sung by the Faroese today. To many in the outside world (including Denmark

Denmark

) they are seen as a backward cliché

Cliché

A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...

about the culture of the islands.

Catches

Records of the drive exist in part since 1584, and continuously from 1709—the longest period of time for statistics existing for any wild animal harvest in the world.

The catch is divided into shares known in Faroese as a skinn, which is an age-old measurement value that derives from agricultural practices. 1 skinn equals 38 kg of whale meat plus 34 kg of blubber: in total 72 kg.

Period	Drives	Whales	Skinn
1709–1950	1,195	178,259	1,360,160 \|

Period	Drives	Whales	Skinn
1951–1960	122	18,772	99,102
1961–1970	130	15,784	79,588
1971–1980	85	11,311	69,026
1981–1990	176	18,806	108,714
1991–2000	101	9,212	66,284 \|

Period	Drives	Whales	Skinn
2001	11	918	7,447
2002	10	626	4,263
2003	5	503	3,968
2004	9	1,010	8,276
2005	6	302	2,194
2006	11	856	6,615
2007	10	633	5,522
2008	N/A	N/A	N/A
2009	3	310

The Faroe Island Statistical office has published the official numbers for the 2009 drive hunt. The statistics show that a total of 310 pilot whales, 174 whitebeaked dolphins, 2 bottlenose whales and 1 bottlenose dolphin were killed in three separate grinds.

Long-term annual average catch 1709–1999: 850
Annual average catch 1900–1999: 1,225
Annual average catch 1980–1999: 1,511
Annual average catch 1990–1999: 956

Threat to the whale population

There is a debate about whether the pilot whale hunt represents a significant threat to pilot whale populations; the actual size of the Northeast Atlantic pilot whale population is a subject of debate between different organizations. The figure accepted by the International Whaling Commission's Scientific Committee is the 778,000 animals obtained by the North Atlantic Sightings Survey in 1992. Those in favour of whaling, such as the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission

North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission

The North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission is an "international body for co-operation on conservation, management and study of marine mammals in the North Atlantic."...

in their 1997 and 1999 report on the hunt, say that this is a conservative estimate, whilst those opposed to the hunt, such as the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society say the figure is over-estimated. If the figure is accepted, then the average kill from 1990–1999 of 956 animals per year, represents a little more than 0.1% of the population, which the commission has deemed sustainable.

In its Red List of Threatened Species the IUCN lists both the Long-finned and Short-finned Pilot Whales with "Data Deficient" status according to its 2008 assessment. In a previous assessment in 1996 the organization listed the species in the "Lower Risk/least concern" category. However, the IUCN also says that with an estimated subpopulation size of 778,000 in the eastern North Atlantic and approximately 100,000 around the Faroes, Faroese catches of 850 per year are probably sustainable.

According to the American Cetacean Society

American Cetacean Society

Founded in 1967, the American Cetacean Society was the first whale conservation group in the world. ACS is a 501 non-profit organization with an office in San Pedro, California and chapters in Los Angeles, Orange County, Puget Sound , Monterey, San Francisco, and a Student Coalition based out of...

— a whale protectionist group — pilot whales are not considered endangered. The society cites that there are likely about 1,000,000 long-finned and at least 200,000 short-finned pilot whales worldwide.

Controversy

Photographs in the media of the pilot whale hunt display a red sea with the bodies of dead pilot whales. These images enraged whale protectors worldwide.

Most Faroese maintain that it is their right to catch pilot whales given that they have done so for centuries. The Faroese whalers defend their actions before international organizations like Greenpeace with three arguments: one, that grindadráp is not a hunt as such, but a dráp meaning a kill (i.e., that they do not regularly take to sea just to hunt for pilot whales, but only kill those sighted swimming too close at land); two, that the pilot whale hunt does not exist for commercial

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

reasons, but for communal food distribution

Food distribution

Food distribution, a method of distributing or transporting food or drink from one place to another, is a very important factor in public nutrition. Where it breaks down, famine, malnutrition or illness can occur...

among local household

Household

The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....

s; and three, data suggest that pilot whales are not endangered.

It is rare to hear critical voices in the Faroe Islands, but in the last few years they have become more frequent. Opponents of the grindadráp often argue on an emotional level, citing in particular the bloody kill on the fjord bank. The Faroese response to this allegation is that a bloody beach is not in fact a problematic issue concerning whale-catching, and that the problem is that a great deal of the civilized population has been alienated from the process and basic consequences of animal food production.

Proponents of the hunt further argue that the pilot whale lives its whole life in freedom in its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

, the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

, and then dies in a few minutes, in contrast to the fate of conventional livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

such as cows, pigs, and chickens. These animals often live in captivity or confinement for their whole lives and are then subject to lengthy transportation and other stressful events before final slaughter. Furthermore, causing an animal unnecessary or excessive pain and discomfort is prohibited by the Faroese law.

Animal-rights activists argue that the grindadráp is not only cruel, but in view of the ample food supply in today's Faroes, completely unnecessary. Additional argumentation is supplied by the Faroese Ministry of Health, which warns of excessive consumption of pilot whale meat, since it has been shown to contain high levels of mercury

Mercury (element)

Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...

, PCBs

Polychlorinated biphenyl

Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...

, and environmental poisons. The Faroese Chief medical officers Pál Weihe and Høgni Debes Joensen announced in late 2008 that pilot whale meat and blubber contains too much mercury, PCBs, and DDT derivatives to be safe for human consumption

During the recent history of the grindadráp, the tools of the catch have modernized. Cellular telephones and radio allow the islands to be alerted to a sighting within the course of minutes. The use of private motorboat

Motorboat

A motorboat is a boat which is powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gearbox and the propeller in one portable unit.An inboard/outboard contains a hybrid of a...

s give the whalers more speed and maneuverability on the water. The dull blowhole hook, adopted in response to concerns over cruelty, had the additional effect of further increasing the effectiveness of Faroese attempting to beach the whales. In spite of how such improvements to the tools could make the grindadráp more effective, the number of pilot whales caught, both overall and per drive, is less than preceding centuries.

In 1989 the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society is a wildlife charity that is dedicated solely to the worldwide conservation and welfare of all whales, dolphins and porpoises...

commissioned an animated public information film http://www.itchfilm.com/directors_animation_charliepaul_animation01.html(narrated by Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...

) to raise awareness on the Faroe Islands' whaling of long-finned pilot whale

Long-finned Pilot Whale

s. The film caused controversy when it was released, as it showed in inordinately graphic detail what occurred during the annual hunt, but was only given a Universal Certificate by the BBFC

British Board of Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...

since it was animated.

External links

Whaling.fo—English website from the Faroese Government
EIA reports and news : anti-whaling campaign updates.
EIA in the USA : anti-whaling updates.
Whaling Photos
Museum of Natural History Faroe Islands Tagged pilot whales
Information page from the High North Alliance
The North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission
International Whaling Commission
Sámal Mikines' Grindadráp-Paintings
Torkilsheyggi Images from a pilot whale hunt in Gøtu 2006
Torkilsheyggi Images of pilot whale meat being prepared for storage in Gøta 2006
www.portal.fo Images of the butchering after a Grindadráp drive in Hvannasund 2007
BBC BBC Report on the drive
CNN CNN Report on the drive
The Faroe Islands - Message from the Sea Frontline/World Report on the Faroe Islands with emphasis on recent health studies regarding mercury levels in whale meat and blubber
GrindaDrap: Video of a Whale Hunt YouTube

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Origins

The sighting

Locations

Regulations

Districts

Supervision

The hunt

Other Species of cetacean that may be taken

Impression

The pilot whale as a source of food

Food preparation

Cultural importance

Catches

Threat to the whale population

Controversy

Further reading

External links