Over 500 dolphins killed in Faroe Islands since hunt resumed in May
The Faroe Islands has killed more than 500 dolphins since its hunt resumed in May, according to local authorities in the autonomous Danish territory in the north Atlantic.
In the Faroese tradition known as grindadráp, or grind for short, hunters surround pilot whales and dolphins with a wide semi-circle of fishing boats and drive them into a shallow bay where they are beached. Fishers on the shore slaughter them with knives.
Every summer, images of the bloody hunt make headlines around the world and are met with outrage among animal rights defenders who consider it barbaric.
“Yesterday there were two grinds, one with 266 catches and the other one with 180, according to the first reports,” said a Faroese government spokesperson.
The two grinds, which involved pilot whales, a species of dolphin, brings to five the number of grinds so far this season.
The environmental NGO Sea Shepherd, which managed to disrupt the 2014 hunt with its boats, criticised the fact that Danish navy vessels were authorised to intervene to block environmentalists.
The hunt still enjoys broad support in the Faroes, where supporters say the animals have fed the local population for centuries and accuse media and foreign NGOs of disrespecting local culture and traditions. They typically kill about 800 pilot whales a year.
In 2022, the government limited the number of Atlantic white-sided dolphins that could be killed a year to 500, after an unusually large slaughter of more than 1,400 caused an outcry even among local people.