Locals in Faroe Islands, Denmark paint the sea red with slaughter of hundreds of whales as part of an annual ritual.
Recently, images from 29th May emerged on social media where more than 140 pilot whales and white sided dolphins were killed in Torshavn bay, sparking worldwide outrage. However, Metro UK reports this was not a one-off incident. About 800 pilot whales are butchered every summer in these bays as inhabitants prepare themselves for the harsh winters ahead.
Despite rebuke from the outside world, government of the country states that as much as it is a tense sight for outsiders, whale meat and blubber form an integral part of the national diet in the Faroe Islands. A spokesperson went as far as calling whaling a natural part of Faroese life.
Authorities emphasise how each whale provides the communities with several hundred kilos of meat and blubber, saving on the cost of importing it from abroad. It is stressed that pilot whale catches in the Faroe Islands are fully sustainable.
When whales are spotted close to land, locals enclose their boats behind and guide them to the most suitable bay to be beached and killed strategically.
In their defence, the officials convince that the method of killing ensures a quick death for the whales, taking only a few seconds.
However, activists and philotherians across the globe have taken it hard. More than 276,200 people have signed Blue Planet Society’s online petition, demanding a ban on dolphin and whale hunting in Japan and the Faroe Islands. The biggest concern for such groups remains that most hunts are unregulated, illegal and unsustainable with over 100,000 of these mammals being killed every year.