Ancient ritual threatens already declining whale populations

By Christina of Etsy shop esmeraldadesigns Marine Biologist and Eco-Metalsmith

Every year almost 1000 long finned pilot whales are slaughtered in the Faroe Islands. Originally for their meat and blubber, now many are left to rot as they are no longer needed as food. The last two years the meet has been deemed too toxic for human consumption, so the killings are purely for the entertainment.

Whaling in the Faroe Islands 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 as there are disagreements about the Commission's competency for small cetaceans.[1][2] Around 950 Long-finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melaena) are killed annually, mainly during the summer. The hunts, called "grindadráp" in Faroese, 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 or to the bottom of a fjord.


Most Faroese consider the hunt an important part of their culture and history. Animal-rights groups criticize the hunt as being cruel and unnecessary[3][4] while the hunters claim in return that most journalists do not exhibit sufficient knowledge of the catch methods or its economic significance.[5]

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.[6]

Including the Long-finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melaena), also bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus); Atlantic white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris); Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus); and harbour porpoise ( Phocaena phocaena) are allowed to be slaughtered.


As mentioned earlier, around 1000 whales, the main part being pilot whales are killed annually. The numbers of whales killed annually are clearly on the decline. Not nececessarily because of ethical reasons but because of declining whale populations. The 2009 statistics show that a total of 310 pilot whales, 174 white beaked dolphins, 2 bottlenose whales and 1 bottlenose dolphin were killed in three separate round-up’s [7, 8]

Personally, I am appalled by this practice, cetaceans are highly intelligent creatures and as all things living worthy of our respect. In light of declining whale population and their benevolent impact on marine ecosystems and the fact that the meat is deemed toxic and not used for human consumption, there is simply no reason this should continue

What can YOU do? Well what I did, except for forwarding this info to everyone on my email list with a heart for animals, I signed a petition to Danish and Faroe governments: The Faroe Islands are part of Denmark. Many organizations have petitions for communicating your thoughts on this brutal tradition to the Danish PM, The Danish Minister of Foreign affair and the Faroe Island Tourist Board. Here is one of the petitions you can choose from:

http://www.unleashed.org.au/take_action/petitions/stop-the-faroe-islands-whale-slaughter/



Information from Wikipedia and IWC, the international whaling commission

1 "Small Cetaceans". International Whaling Commission. 5 May 2004. http://www.iwcoffice.org/conservation/smallcetacean.htm. Retrieved 21 July 2009.

2Catch limits". International Whaling Commission. 1 September 2009. http://www.iwcoffice.org/conservation/catches.htm. Retrieved 21 July 2009.

3 [http://www.whaling.fo/thepilot.htm#Drivingthewhales[dead link] "Whales and whaling in the Faroe Islands"]. Faroese Government. http://www.whaling.fo/thepilot.htm#Drivingthewhales[dead link]. Retrieved 2006-12-05.

4 [http://www.wdcs.org/dan/publishing.nsf/allweb/99E632F7502FCC3B802568F20048794C[dead link] "Why do whales and dolphins strand?"]. WDCS. http://www.wdcs.org/dan/publishing.nsf/allweb/99E632F7502FCC3B802568F20048794C[dead link]. Retrieved 2006-12-05.

5 Chrismar, Nicole (28 July 2006). "Dolphins Hunted for Sport and Fertilizer". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2248161&page=1. Retrieved 21 July 2009.

6 MacKenzie, Debora (28 November 2008). "Faroe islanders told to stop eating 'toxic' whales". New Scientist. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16159-faroe-islanders-told-to-stop-eating-toxic-whales.html. Retrieved 21 July 2009.

7 Whale catches in figures". Faroese Government. http://www.whaling.fo/thepilot.htm#Whalecatches. Retrieved 2006-12-05.

8 http://www.hagstova.fo/portal/page/portal/HAGSTOVAN/Hagstova_Foroya

From Christina about Lab Rescue in CT/NY

From Christina of http://esmeraldadesigns.etsy.com

From labrador retriever rescue of CT/NY
http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/labrescuect.html
Roxy's story

On April 2, 2009, 8-year-old yellow female Roxy, as well as her 2-yr-old
black male son and 5-month-old yellow female daughter, were taken into
rescue after being abandoned in their home. Roxy had been hit by a car 3
weeks prior, but had not received any medical attention and was unable to
walk on her right rear leg. X-rays revealed that the impact of the car had
completely rotated the head of the femur out of the hip socket. In addition
to her injuries, Roxy had been completely over-bred with back-to-back puppy
litters and also had a severe skin condition caused by allergies that were
never treated. Her eyes were so inflamed that they barely opened and her
ears were severely infected as well. At our vet's office, there wasn't a dry
eye when she arrived. Amazingly, given the pain that she was in, she was
still able to wag her tail! Roxy is a survivor of the worst animal cruelty
but has gotten a second chance to be shown kindness by human beings.
However, she still has a long road ahead of her to full recovery.


November, 2009. Little did we know that Roxy was pregnant when she came
into rescue and went to her foster home. Two weeks into foster care, Roxy
whelped 9 puppies very unexpectedly. Unfortunately, all of her treatments
had to be postponed while she was nursing the puppies. After the pups were
weaned, we resumed Roxy's care. All the puppies were adopted!


She was treated by Dr. Emily Rothstein, a veterinary dermatologist. Roxy had
one of the most severe cases of bacterial dermatitis she had ever treated.
Roxy's eyes and ears were affected, as well as most of her body. A
combination of antibiotics, medicated baths, topical medications and a raw
diet has improved her skin issues dramatically. Because of the years of
neglect, Roxy's immune system was very reactive and sensitive. Environmental
allergies have also been another source of her skin issues. She continues
her treatment in foster care and it is unlikely that she will have 100% coat
re-growth. Her dislocated hip has healed on it¹s own and surgery was not
recommended because of her poor reaction to anesthesia. Instead, daily
exercise to build up muscle mass around her hip socket is seeing results.
She shows no sign of pain nor favors the hip that was injured. She continues
to be monitored by Dr. Rothstein for skin issues. Roxy is a labrador with
great heart and spirit. She is a happy girl, finally playing with toys, very
affectionate and always wanting to please. She sees joy in simple things,
loves the comforts of home, her favorite chair and lives each day to the
fullest. Roxy continues to heal and for that we are most grateful to her
foster parents. We continue to need help with her medical expenses. Thank
you to everyone who has helped already! If you would like to contribute,
please use the Paypal donation link below. We hope you enjoy the new
pictures, as well as pictures of her puppies. Bless you from Roxy and all of
us here at LRRCT!