ON the morning of Saturday, June 6, a large pod of pilot whales was slaughtered in the first grindadráp (grind) of the year, on the island of Vágar in the northwest of the Faroe Islands archipelago.

Estimates indicate that as many as 150 individual pilot whales were in the slaughtered pod, making this one of the bloodiest grinds in at least two years.

The Faroese Fisheries Patrol vessel Brimil located the large pod south of the island of Vágar.

Over the next four to five hours, as many as 25 hunting boats drove the pod, finally herding them on to the beach of Miðvágur where the grind eventually took place.

It was reported that for more than four hours, these animals fought for their lives.

They were harassed, they were tortured and then they were brutally killed in the presence of their family members.

This is a bloodbath.

Even children were allowed to witness this carnage.

For hundreds of years the people of the Faroe Islands have been herding migrating pilot whales from the sea into shallow water and slaughtering them.

The slaughter, known by the Faroese term “grindadráp” or “grind” wipes-out entire family groups of whales and dolphins at one time.

The Faroe Islands constitute an autonomous region of Denmark.

Protest letters to the prime minister of Denmark have fallen on deaf ears, justifying this slaughter on the grounds of “culture” and “tradition”.

Even the Danish Navy protect the whalers, claiming it’s a food source.

Activists were arrested trying to protect the whales.

I am sure you will agree that this abomination is totally unacceptable in the 21st century.

Please help those who care by drawing attention to this outrage.

The world cannot ignore this massacre.

It degrades us as human beings.

SUSAN SMITH
Banbury Road
Oxford