Latest hunt in the Faroe Islands
The second Faroese pilot whale hunt (or grind) of the 2014 season occurred on August 30th on the southern island of Sandoy. It was reported that 33 pilot whales were killed.
So far, 46 pilot whales have been killed since the 2014 season began. The first grind occurred in mid-May where 13 pilot whales were killed in Fuglafjordur on the more northern Island of Esturoy. Five bottlenose whales that had stranded alive were also killed and butchered just a few days ago on August 28th in Hvalba.
The death toll in 2013 was staggering -1533 small whales were killed (including 430 Atlantic white sided dolphins and 1103 pilot whales). It is still early in the season, and the killing could continue through to November.
Nearly 3,650 pilot whales have been killed since the beginning of 2010, raising serious human health, animal welfare, and conservation concerns. The magnitude of these numbers is devastating when considering the whale families lost to these cruel hunts. Entire family groups of pilot whales are rounded up out at sea by small motor boats and driven to the shore where they are killed in shallow bays. Once they beach, blunt-ended metal hooks inserted into their blowholes are used to drag the whales up the beach or in the shallows, where they are killed with a knife cut to their major blood vessels. WDC continues its call for Faroe Islanders to bring a permanent end to the hunting of pilot whales and other species of whales and dolphins.
