Bite Back: A whale carnage

Written by staff reporter Tuesday, 03 March 2009 00:00

CARNAGE: killed whales JOHN NIGHTINGALE

Every summer, the people of the Faroe Islands post lookouts to search for pilot whales. When a pod is spotted, dozens of boats go out to sea, encircle the whales and give chase until they are able to drive them into the shore. On the beach are people waiting with ropes and steel hooks. As soon as a whale is close enough, a steel gaff is repeatedly driven into its flesh until it takes a firm enough hold for the whale to be dragged into the shallows with ropes. There, knives are used to slice through the flesh behind its head, until the spinal cord is reached and severed and the animal finally dies.

The Faroese defend this horrific scene on the grounds that it is traditional and has occurred for hundreds of years. Presumably, if you follow that line of reasoning, there is then nothing wrong with bear baiting, cock fighting or throwing donkeys off towers. In times past, the annual grind, as the pilot whale drive is known, was necessary for the survival of the islanders. But today, this is clearly not the case, and it has become more like a sport, with the children given a day off school to take part in the carnage.

Global long-finned pilot whale numbers are not known and, although they are listed as ‘strictly protected’ by the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, they don’t appear to be in any danger of extinction. However, this unnecessary and barbaric whale drive seems inexcusable, given the weight of evidence available to show the physical and psychological suffering these social animals go through during such a hunt. Other cetacean species, such as the Atlantic white-sided dolphin and the harbour porpoise, are also targeted.

Some small attempts have been made by the government to limit the worst excesses of cruelty. The practice of gaffing whales through the eye socket out at sea to ensure that they don’t escape, and then using the wound to tow them in, has been discouraged. A new, less blunt gaff, which is designed to be hammered into the blowhole rather than into the flesh, has been introduced, but that would seem to simply add an element of suffocation to what the whales are already going through.

The reality is that while some of the meat is distributed, much is thrown away. One of the reasons for this is that as apex predators, pilot whales are heavily contaminated with PCBs and heavy metals such as methyl mercury. While this may, in time, affect the future of pilot whales themselves, it is certainly not good for those who eat them and is particularly dangerous for young children and pregnant mothers, as it can affect the child’s development. A tradition it may be, but for upwards of a thousand whales to suffer and die unnecessarily every year makes it an absurd and cruel anachronism. The Faroese prime minister, Kaj Leo Johannesen, can be contacted on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Unfortunately, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) does not cover pilot whales, but it does allow other ‘subsistence’ exemptions to the whaling ban where there is a nutritional or cultural need. A recent report reveals that Greenland is flouting this rule and that about a quarter of its catch is actually sold for profit through a private company.

At the IWC meeting, Denmark, on behalf of Greenland, was pushing to increase Greenland’s quota to include humpback and bowhead whales, as well as the minke and endangered fin whales already killed by the Arctic island’s fishermen. The extra bowhead catch was permitted, but the humpback catch was refused. Denmark has threatened to return with greater demands this year, but Greenland has also taken to setting itself quotas of narwhals and beluga whales. In the past such quotas have exceed sustainable levels recommended by the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission, and are thought to have had a significant impact on beluga populations.

Greenland, like the Faroes, is a self-governing Danish province, so any comments on the absurdity of killing species that are already reduced to a fraction of their former numbers should be directed towards the Danish prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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