home

Sept. 5, 2000
FAROES WHALE SLAUGHTER HEATS UP
- 150 whales killed last week
More than 150 long-finned pilot whales have been killed in the Faroe
Islands, a Danish protectorate, since July. Sea Shepherd International has learned from sources in the Faroes that fifty whales were slaughtered in a small bay last week; another 100 were killed in one day outside the city of Vestmanna.

The Sea Shepherd flagship Ocean Warrior went to the Faroes in July to
protest the hunt, which is conducted every year in the name of tradition by the wealthy islanders, who have no subsistence need for whale meat but consume it as a cultural prerogative.

The hunt, known as a "grind," is horrifically cruel, using fishing boats to drive North Atlantic and migratory North Sea pilot whales into shore and roping and hauling on them until they beach themselves, then sawing at their heads with long knives, severing their spines, and letting them bleed to death. The Faroes maintain that the hunt is "as humane as possible" and the long-finned pilot whale is not endangered.

"When they slaughter 100 whales at a time, the Faroese are wiping out entire pods and family groups," said Paul Watson, captain of the Ocean Warrior and president of Sea Shepherd International. "Aside from the fact that the number of North Atlantic long-finned pilot whales is unknown and they are listed as 'strictly protected' by the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, and aside from the barbarism and pointlessness of the act, such a practice is a direct threat to genetic diversity. They are removing building blocks from the gene pool of the species and damaging the web of life in the North Atlantic and the North Sea."

Sea Shepherd's boycott of Faroe Islands seafood - the protectorate's primary export - is expanding, targeting several importers of smoked salmon and all subsidiaries of Amsterdam-based multinational corporation Unilever, which continues to do business with Faroese fish processors. Pressure is also being brought to bear on the Danish government.

"Denmark has been defending itself by saying Faroese home rule means they are virtually an independent nation and their whale hunt is therefore not Denmark's responsibility," said Watson. "The Faroe Islands are an overseas administrative division of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Queen of Denmark is the Faroes' head of state, Denmark is their international representative, their law is the Danish constitution, their money is the Danish crown, and one billion of those crowns are gifted to them every year in an annual subsidy from the Danish government."

While the Ocean Warrior was on patrol in the Faroes, police boarded the vessel from Danish naval helicopters to serve notice of alleged violations, orders of expulsion and escalating fines, and the Danish government exerted pressure on the Cayman Islands to pull the ship's registry. No whales were killed while the Ocean Warrior patrolled the waters near the Faroe Islands.

___________________

TAKE ACTION:

Tell the prime minister of Denmark to suspend Denmark's annual subsidy to the Faroes until an agreement to phase out and end the Faroe Islands' pilot whale "grind hunts" has been signed between the Faroese home rule government and the Kingdom of Denmark.

Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
Prins Jorgens Gard 11
1218 Copenhagen K
Denmark
phone: (045) 33 92 33 00
fax: (045) 33 11 16 65
email: stm@stm.dk

CC:
Queen Margrethe II
Amalienborg
DK 1257 Copenhagen K
Denmark

More information from
Sea Shepherd International
P.O. Box 2616
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
(360) 370-5500
http://www.seashepherd.org
seashepherd@seashepherd.org


August 22, 2000
Japan admits (boasts?) killing 6 minkes, 4 Bryde's and 1 sperm whale since July.  Nine countries have registered a formal protest and international groups, including  Japan's Dolphin and Whale Action Network continue to protest

August 21, 2000
Japan receives simultaneous international and domestic criticism for its whaling policy  (click)

August 18, 2000
Japanese vote-buying at IWC meeting confirmed.  Atherton Martin, Fisheries Minister of the Island nation of Dominica (population 70,000)
resigned his position to protest his country's accepting a bribe from Japan to vote against the Southern Whale Sanctuary at the meeting of the International Whaling Commission in July.  He accused the delegations of Grenada, St Vincent, St. Lucia, Antigua, St Kitts and Nevis of succumbing to the same "extortionary tactics".

"Frankly, they (the Japanese) are relentless, very pushy and aggressive, and I think a lot of our governments cave in," he said.  "They (also) actually buy off with cash the chief fisheries advisers to the governments and fly them to Japan throughout the year."

These statements confirm what whale protection groups and environmentalists have been claiming right along..

August 17, 2000
Earth Island Institute is challenging the Minnesota Zoo's plan to import four bottlenose dolphins from an aquarium in Durban, South Africa.
The imported dolphins are already captives, but Earth Island argues that the Durban aquarium is likely to capture more wild dolphins to replace them.  The Minnesota Zoo is already holding four dolphins aged 36, 28, 8, and 4 years.   

Previous whale news          Subsequent whale news