The bloodbath begins as soon as the animals reach the shallows. Wielding spears and hooks, islanders wade toward the thrashing, terrified animals en masse. Young and old alike slam heavy metal crowbar-like hooks, called gaffs, into the helpless whales’ bodies – often into the ultra-sensitive blowhole.

Together with ropes, gaffs are a means of securing the writhing animals. Within minutes, the sea runs red with the animals’ blood, as locals knife through their flesh in an attempt to hack through the backbone. Even children are encouraged to take part in this gruesome spectacle and are given a day off school, so they don’t have to miss out on the ‘fun’. In the UK they wouldn’t be allowed to watch it on TV.

Pilot whales form some of the most cohesive social groups in nature and have highly sophisticated communication methods. Groups, known as pods, sometimes contain hundreds of individuals consisting of a single extended family and tend to stay together throughout their lives. Females don’t breed until they are 7 to10 years old. They can live for over 60 years and some suckle their calves for over a decade.

Interpersonal bonds are so strong that pilot whales won’t abandon each other even in situations of mortal danger. According to Phillip Clapham, who directs a whale research programme in the US, “If one or two animals get sick and into trouble, the group will tend to band together and get in trouble as a group.” Pilot whales are around 20-25 feet long and weigh up to five tons. Like other toothed whales they have highly developed nervous systems and experience pain and fear like other mammals. Even stranded pilot whales have been shown to suffer severely, so the pain and terror of animals that are butchered alive doesn’t bear thinking about.

When the Faroese hunt started in the 10th century, whale meat and blubber provided a valuable source of animal protein, but this is no longer the case. In fact, the meat is greatly polluted with heavy metals and PCBs and does not meet EU health standards. Even the Faroes’ own Health Authority recommends limiting consumption to no more than twice a month. Not surprisingly, demand for the meat has dropped and tragically much of it is dumped and left to rot.

The Faroe Islands are a protectorate of Denmark which is part of the European Union. The islands have their own government and regulations governing the pilot whale hunt. Similar hunts used to exist in the Hebrides, Shetland and Orkney. However, they were rightfully abandoned decades ago and are now illegal in other European countries.

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