Horrifying images and video show children watching as a “super pod” of nearly 1,500 dolphins was slaughtered off the coast of the Faroe Islands last night.
The hunt, believed to be the worst in the history of the area, and even the world, wiped out 1,428 white dolphins after hunters rounded them up and stabbed them to death.
Horrifying footage shows children watching nearly 1,500 dolphins being slaughtered in Faroe Islands
The huge herd made it 40 km into Danish waters before being rounded up and killed on Monday night. The bloodshed stained the sea red, and all the dolphin carcasses were left on the shore, symbolic of the scale of the slaughter.
In the video, shared by the activist group Sea Shepherd, you can see firsthand the dolphins being rounded up, as the boats surround the terrified, still undead animals and prevent them from fleeing. The creatures try to escape their violent fate and flail helplessly against the harpoons.
Most heartbreakingly, there are children among those watching as the dead dolphins begin to pile up on the sand, some of them dying a slow and painful death.
The Faroe Islands have a long tradition of killing dolphins for their meat, as does Taiji in Japan, and many see the slaughter – known locally as “grindadráp” – as part of their culture.
Some activists debate how many of these animals are actually sold for their meat and how many are killed to maintain a vital supply of fish to support the highly lucrative fishing trade.
The Blue Planet Society condemned the mass slaughter on social media Monday, calling it “horribly cruel” and “irresponsible.”
The Faroe Islands have a population of 53,000, meaning it is unlikely they could consume all the dolphins they have killed, the charity has argued.
