The Faroe Islands are home to an extremely barbaric cetacean drive hunt, called the Grindadráp/Grind. During a Grind, hundreds of pilot whales and other cetaceans are driven into fjords, and pulled up onto kill beaches, where they are then brutally killed along with their entire pod. When the Grind is over, there can be hundreds of pilot whales (and other cetaceans) dying or dead in the blood of their relatives in their pod. Even the baby and pregnant female pilot whales are not safe from this horrific massacre. In 2013, there is said to have been approximately 1,300 pilot whales killed for human consumption. These drive hunts are carried out by Faroese whalers, and their families, including young children.

Scientifically we know that pilot whales live in family pods and are highly intelligent beings. They travel the oceans with their families, and when they are unfortunate enough to be spotted by Faroese whalers, they meet their end as they are brutally driven up fjords and killed.

The product from the Grindadráp/Grind slaughters, is toxic pilot whale meat. The levels of mercury found in the meat is not fit for human consumption. The Faroese are known to kill pilot whales, dolphins, and even orcas.

This Grindadráp/Grind slaughter serves no purpose in today's world. The Faroe Islands truly, are the Taiji of the North.

Cruise lines such as Holland America, by choosing to include the Faroe Islands on their travel itineraries, support the economy of a culture that is literally perpetrating a genocidal campaign against pilot whales.

Tell Holland America Cruise Lines to Stop Supporting the Grind Slaughter of Cetaceans in the Faroes by signing this petition!

For more information on the Grindadráp/Grind in the Faroe Islands, please visit http://www.seashepherd.org/grindstop/