Animal rights activists have been left enraged after the annual 'grindadrĂ¡p' hunt once again took place on the Faroe Islands, a small European island group that sits between Scotland and Iceland.
The hunt is said to have killed 1428 dolphins and involves fisherman rounding up dolphins in the water on motorboats and driving them into shallow waters. Once in the shallow waters, they are then speared to death by people wading in the water or by those on the shore. The hunt has been a yearly occurrence on the islands for centuries.
The event makes for a gruesome scene as the water turns red and dolphins flop around before dying.
Activists say that the killing of 1428 dolphins is the largest death toll ever recorded at a hunt, which has been taking place since the 1500s.
The organisers of the event boasted:
"It is possibly the largest single hunt of cetaceans ever recorded worldwide."
While Faroese fishermen say the event is an important part of their tradition, animal rights activists say the hunt is barbaric and uncalled for. Activists have also said that many of those involved in the hunt are there without a license and hunting illegally.
Rob Read, COO of Sea Shepherds, an organisation that campaigns for sea-life, said:
"The hunt these days is far from the traditional subsistence hunt of previous centuries. The grindadrĂ¡p now takes place with high-powered boats and Jet Skis, and is little more than a sport masquerading as tradition. The meat is not needed by the wealthy Faroese community, and the hunting method is totally indiscriminate, killing every member of the pod."
Only 17% of the Faroese population of 55,000 people regularly consume dolphin meat or whale blubber. It is also thought that many on the island reject the traditional event, calling it 'barbaric', several local celebrities and TV personalities on the islands have also spoken up this year in protest.
While whale hunting has been broadly banned since 1986 it is estimated that the Faroe Islands, Norway and Japan have killed as many as 40,000 whales in the 35 years since.
[h/t: euronews]
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