Whaling in the Faroe Islands, or grindadráp (from the Faroese terms grindhvalur, meaning pilot whale, and dráp, meaning killing), is a type of drive hunting that involves herding various species of whales and dolphins, but primarily pilot whales, into shallow bays to be beached, killed, and butchered. Each year, an average of around 700 long-finned pilot whales are caught, alongside varying numbers of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. The practice dates back to the 9th century, and many Faroe Islanders consider eating whales to be an important part of their history. Since 1948, the hunt has been regulated by the Faroese authorities, required its participants to be trained, involved modern boats and communications, and been supervised by police. The hunt has been under increasing scrutiny since the 1980s. Domestically, concerns have arisen over the potential toxicity of whale meat, particularly for young children and pregnant women. Internationally, animal rights groups, who consider the hunts cruel and unnecessary, have targeted them with protests, boycotts, and occasional direct interventions.
History The evidence for whaling on the Faroe Islands dates back to the early days of Norse settlement (800–900 AD) during the Viking Age. After 999 AD, when Sigmundur Brestisson brought Christianity to the Faroes, the islanders began keeping records of their whale kills for the purpose of the taxes due to the King of Norway. There is archaeological evidence of whaling in the form of pilot whale bones found in household remains dating back to around 1200 AD, and laws regulating the whale hunt appear in the 1298 Sheep Letter. Written records of whale kills survive from 1584, and the statistical records are considered particularly reliable from 1709 to the present. The 20th century saw increased regulation of Faroese whaling. On 4 June 1907, the Danish amtmaður (governor) and sýslumaður (sheriff) sent the first draft for whaling regulations to the Danish authorities in Copenhagen, and in 1932 the first modern whaling legislation was introduced. As a part of the Home Rule act of 1948, the powers relating to legislating on and regulating fishing and hunting on the Faroes were transferred from the Danish Parliament to the Faroese Parliament. The 21st century has seen ongoing regulation alongside a Faroese whaling culture revival both as part of "an international preoccupation with reclaiming, preserving and reconstituting the past" and a national and local "quest for defining identity".
The whale hunt
There are no fixed hunting seasons, but whale hunts are likely to happen during spring and summer periods, from June to October. Whale drives only take place when sea and weather conditions permit. When the men hear of a grindaboð (a whale pod spotted close to shore), and after approval from the sýslumaður, the fishermen already at sea head towards the whales and wait for others to arrive. Women usually do not actively take part in the whale hunt, but support it as bystanders or onlookers. Whaling regulations specify how the school of whales is to be driven ashore, and the drive works by surrounding the pilot whales with a wide semicircle of boats. On the signal of the whale hunt foremen, stones attached to lines are thrown into the water behind the pilot whales to prevent their escape and the boats drive the whales towards an authorised beach or fjord, where the animals are driven to beach themselves. In older times, the boats which were used to the whale hunt were traditional wooden rowing boats known as grindabátarnir; today they use wooden or fibreglass boats with engines. In the village of Vágur however they have preserved ten traditional whaling boats, the oldest dating back to 1873. These boats are still in use, but for pleasure trips.
Once beached, the pilot whales are killed by a single deep cut through the dorsal area made with a special whaling knife, a mønustingari that severs the spinal cord. The mønustingari began to be used in 2011, and became a legal requirement in 2015. After the whales are confirmed to be dead, their necks are cut open with a grindaknívur, so that as much blood as possible can run from the whale in order to better preserve the meat. The pilot whales that are not beached were historically stabbed in the blubber with a sharp hook, called a sóknarongul (a kind of gaff), and then pulled ashore. In 1993, a blunt gaff or blásturongul was invented that could be used to hold the beached whales steady by their blowholes and pull them ashore. In 1985, the Faroe Islands outlawed the use of spears (skutil) and harpoons (hvalvákn) in the hunt, as these weapons were considered to be unnecessarily cruel to the whales. According to the 2013 Whale Hunt Law, whales must be either ashore or stuck on the seabed before they can lawfully be killed, and, as of 26 January 2017, only the men waiting on the beaches with blásturkrókur, mønustingari and grindaknívur are permitted to kill the whales, and it is no longer permitted to harpoon the whales while at sea, or hook those outside of the encircling net.
Hunted species and populations
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