In our fast-evolving world where traditions slowly disappear due to innovation, some brutal one remain as a stain of violence. Since 1983 Sea Shepherd has been documenting and fighting the grind in the Faroe Islands, this exhibition is part of this endless commitment.
THE GRIND
Every year in the Faroe Islands, in name of a thousand year old tradition, hundreds of cetaceans are massacred along the 26 killing beaches of the islands. The pods of whales are spotted and chased to the beach where they are cruelly killed, pregnant whales and juvenile too.
AN ANCIENT
TRADITION
Whale hunting in the islands has an ancient tradition since medieval times in which not only the meat fed the inhabitants of the island but the skin allowed them to build ropes and the fat to illuminate the houses.
Nowadays wooden rowing boats no longer exist, the grind takes place with motor boats with radars and latest generation equipment.
NOWADAYS
BUT WHAT ABOUT
THE MEAT?
In June 2011, the Faroese Food and Veterinary Authority in an official document suggested adults not consume whale meat more than once a month due to the high quantities of mercury and PCB present in it.
It also advises women who wish to become pregnant to abstain completely from consuming whale blubber and pregnant or breastfeeding women to abstain completely from consuming their meat.
SO WHY
THE GRIND?
Nowadays every type of food imported from all over the world arrives on the Faroe Islands, so the question arises spontaneously, is whale meat still necessary?
Usually after a grind the meat is distributed among the families of the municipality where the hunt took place. If salted the meat can last for years.
CRUELTY
In the ferocity of the grind no one is spared. Pregnant, sick or young whales, the entire pod is killed. Once the whales have been chased ashore they are killed one by one, often the young ones are left last to watch the rest of their family get slaughtered before their turn comes.
CRUELTY
CRUELTY
THE FAROE ISLANDS
Unlike in the past, these islands are far from isolated, every technology and comfort is present on the islands, large supermarkets full of all kinds of items, countless car dealers and ethnic restaurants from all over the world. It is a country with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, with enormous technological investments in renewable sources.
BEHIND THE TRADITION
Behind the façade of tradition there is the sale of whale meat and blubber in several supermarkets on the island and restaurants. Due to an exemption from CITES permits due to European Commission (EF) regulation no. 206/2009 of 5 March 2009, whale meat can be imported from the Faroe Islands to Denmark without any tracking as it is for private consumption. In fact, in this way the whale meat market legally expands also in the European Union.
Make an impact today
There is still a long way to go but with your help we can keep fighting!
DON’T WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW
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I would like to thank all those who made this project possible and believed in it. First of all Sea Shepard for giving me the opportunity to document and take part in this campaign. My Crew on the Faroe Islands Anouk, Nikola, Viky, Annika, Eugenio, Leon, Noel. With whom I shared the documentation of those difficult days of the grind.