The island is so popular that it closed itself to tourists, except those who are willing to help repair and maintain the island. However, there is a darker side.
Almost 1,500 cetaceans (dolphins and whales) were killed last Sunday (with also pregnant whales)
“This is, we believe, the largest ever single hunt of dolphins or pilot whales in Faroese history — the next largest being 1,200 pilot whales back in 1940 — and is possibly the largest single hunt of cetaceans ever recorded worldwide.
Sea Shepherd
The Faroe Islands are formally part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but have significant autonomy.
EU law bans “deliberate capture or killing” of any dolphins or whales, but since the Faroe Islands are not part of the union they do not have to abide by the rules.
The barbaric fishing process involves boats heading out to find pods of whales and dolphins, and rounding them up into shallow waters. They struggled for breath on the beach until they are killed.
The Faroese insist that this meat is not sold, but every part of the whale is used and is shared amongst their community as a valuable source of meat for a region that has very little in terms of natural resources. The whole of that statement is a lie for four reasons:
Whale meat from the grinds is sold in supermarkets and restaurants in the Faroe Islands, so it is bringing in money for some of the people involved which makes it a commercial enterprise.
Every part of the whale killed is not used, not even every whale killed is used. The hunters have been documented discarding whole whale carcasses into the sea that they did not have time to process before dusk.
It is not a valuable source of meat, it is very dangerous due to the amount of toxins (high levels of mercury and PCBs) even Faroese doctors confirm it contains. The poisonous levels would not be legal in any other food approved for human consumption and the fact that children are being given this meat to eat by parents who should know better means that they are being poisoned. There is a high incident of disease on the island related to these pollutants.
The Faroe Islands have a thriving fishing industry including farmed salmon. They also have a large amount of sheep. They trade these commodities for all the benefits of a materialisic society and with this and their subsidies they enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world.
Top Shot features the photo with the most votes from the previous day’s Daily Dozen, 12 photos selected by the Your Shot editors. The photo our community has voted as their favorite is showcased on the @natgeoyourshot Instagram account. Click here to vote for tomorrow’s Top Shot.
“Hiking around the cliffs of Mykines in The Faroe Islands, I spotted a puffin sitting on the edge of the rocks below watching the waves come crashing in,” writes Your Shot photographer Paul Boomsma. Photograph by Paul Boomsma
