(Warning: Graphic Images)

The Cove won a well-deserved Oscar (and several other awards) this year for uncovering the slaughter of dolphins in Japan. While it was being made, another discovery put the Japanese people on notice: the flesh of the dolphins is toxic, highly poisonous due to mercury content from them ingesting mercury-tainted fish. Similar levels of mercury poisoning have caused horrible birth defects in the past, right there in Japan. The Cove demonstrates how doing the right thing by other animals on the planet is the right thing for humans as well.

Apparently that message was lost on the people of the Faroe Islands, a holding of Denmark. Their dolphin and whale slaughter continues. The consumption of the flesh also continues. What will it take for an otherwise civilized Western European nation to grow up?

Slaughter. That’s a strong word… but not strong enough. How else could one describe these images?

And a spectator sport

Thousands of people have signed petitions. The government of Denmark / Faroe Islands ignores them; petitions go unheeded. It is time that we, citizens of this planet, called upon our own governments to tell Denmark / Faroe Islands that the whales and dolphins they slaughter are not theirs to kill. It is time that we fought back for the sake of those who cannot speak at our courts. We must demand that our government put Denmark and the Faroe Islands on notice: We will NOT passively permit you to continue this vulgar practice! We will place sanctions against you until it stops. We will not buy or sell with you. You are shunned, unwelcome, until you stop slaughtering these fellow residents of the earth.

This is our planet, the earth is our mother, and all of the creatures who share it with us are our fellows, brother and sister inhabitants. It is not ours to do with as we please. We’re only here borrowing it for a while. The Calderon dolphins may very well be led to extinction by this killing, and extinct is forever. They are just one of the species of cetaceans killed by these people. NO intelligent creature should be treated this way. Despite claims to the contrary, the Faroese do NOT need to do this to survive. Please, do all you can to make it stop.

P.S. Apologies to any Danes who feel they are being unjustly singled out, but the fact remains that the Faroe Islands are a territory of Denmark. If Denmark wants to sever all ties to that territory, we will be glad to change the title of the article. Until then, the title remains accurate.

PPS: It has been nearly 2 years since this article was written. We have invited the Faroese into a discussion, and they participated. When it got circular and there was nothing more to be gained, I ended the discussion. There have been many comments submitted EVERY DAY about these ongoing horrors. Many of them are emotional, reactionary, and have at least some of the facts wrong. But the facts that they’re mistaken about are not foundational; their position isn’t any less right, for example, that they thought Pilot “whales” are endangered, or if they’re called Calderon or something else. For the past year or so, I’ve censored out many posts that called for violence to the Faroese. I have just release them all, editing out only the most offensive of them, allowing people’s own words to “speak” for them, for better or worse.

Thanks to all of you for your passion and involvement. Though the Faroese have turned down offers to supplement their income in lieu of continuing the Grind, it remains our most fervent hope that they will do so of their own will.

Comments are now closed for this post. I’m taking the liberty of having this last word:

If the Faroe Islands are so horribly barren as you Faroese apologize/defend, that you (Faroese) cannot grow food in hothouses, cannot raise eggs, etc., and the (over)fishing that you’re already doing still cannot support your people, then it is far better to leave that place (or redouble your efforts to grow vegetables in hothouse environments) than to continue killing these sentient, sapient, sovereign beings, just to survive. It’s not 200 years ago anymore. Relocating would be easy enough to do… if it were actually a matter of survival.

There is no good excuse for this… and the powerboats that drive hundreds and thousands to their deaths are NOT part of any tradition, even if tradition were to be given some special importance. (Slavery was a tradition, too.) It is time for the Faroese to end these horrible atrocities, the deaths they bring, and the poor health and shame they heap upon themselves by refusing to do so.

JT

Founder

Protect The Ocean

29 January, 2012