The 'Hunting Tradition' That Slaughtered 1,400 Dolphins... The Sea Turned Bright Red

Traditional 'Grind' in Danish Faroe Islands
Dolphins Driven to Shore and Spinal Cord Severed for Hunting
Mass Death of 1,428 Dolphins, Twice the Usual Average
Animal Protection Groups Say the 'Hunt' Has Turned into a Disorderly 'Slaughter'

Large-scale whale hunt 'Grind' in the Faroe Islands, a Danish territory in the North Atlantic / Photo by Sea Shepherd SNS capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Approximately 1,400 dolphins were slaughtered on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. This is a hunting tradition that has been maintained for hundreds of years. However, the number of dolphins hunted was twice the usual amount, and the hunting process was reported to be excessively brutal, causing controversy even locally.

On the 14th (local time), according to the British broadcaster 'BBC,' the marine environmental protection organization 'Sea Shepherd' recently exposed the mass dolphin hunting incident that took place in the Faroe Islands, a Danish autonomous territory in the North Atlantic, through social media.

According to the organization, 1,428 dolphins were hunted in the Faroe Islands on the 12th. Photos posted by Sea Shepherd on social media show blood from the dead dolphins staining the coastline red.

This type of whale hunting is known as the 'Grind,' a hunting tradition passed down in the Faroe Islands. The Grind involves driving a pod of dolphins to the shore by boat and then cutting their spines with specially made knives.

This tradition has been carried on for over 700 years in the Faroe Islands, and in the past, dolphin hunting was not only a source of food but also helped strengthen community spirit.

According to the Faroe Islands government, an average of 600 dolphins are hunted annually through the Grind. However, this year, more than 1,400 dolphins?more than double the usual number?were sacrificed in the Grind.

It is reported that even locally, there is controversy over the unexpectedly large scale of the hunt. The president of the local whaling association admitted in an interview with the BBC, "When we initially detected the dolphin pod, we estimated about 200 dolphins," acknowledging that hunting over 1,400 dolphins was a 'mistake.'

Sea Shepherd also claimed that this Grind was illegal. According to a Faroe Islands administrative order passed in 2017, a sufficient number of hunters must be deployed when conducting the Grind. However, the Grind supervisor in the area where the hunt took place reportedly was not notified about this year's hunt.

Regarding this, Sea Shepherd criticized, "No one kills dolphins and sandpipers as quickly as the Faroese government," and pointed out that the Grind 'hunt' can often degenerate into a disorderly 'massacre.'

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.