A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of salt, but with more than a grain of truth!

It is strange how island people can be so fiercely proud and independent, born I suppose of the primitive need to survive against the odds. Often they are forced to go to extremes to find enough food, and even when contact with the outside world means that finding food is no longer a problem they still cling to their traditional ways.

One such is the small group of islands known as the Faroe Islands, northwest of Scotland, about half way between Iceland and Norway, and scarcely a dot on the maps. The Faroe Islands are self governing, having been given Home Rule by Denmark in 1948. They are now largely separate from Denmark, but very dependent on it.

The Faroes are rugged, beautiful and, in many ways, still rooted in a different century. The people still maintain their language, national costume and traditional ways alongside a 21st century lifestyle. It is that difference which has brought the islands to the notice of the wider world in a way which has brought their stubborn independence to the fore and done their international reputation no good whatsoever. One tradition going back many hundreds of years stems from that need to find food, much of it from the surrounding seas, and it continues in spite of fierce opposition from the outside world.

North Atlantic Long Finned Pilot whales Globicephala melas (actually dolphins), arrive seasonally (March to August) around the Faroes, and it is the habit of using boats to herd large numbers of Pilot whales in to a bay for slaughtering that causes such consternation. The event is called 'The Grind'¹. Many hundreds can be killed in one session, turning the sea in to a blood bath. The animals are killed by severing their spine, generally killing them quickly, but the preceding distress is painful to watch. So is the evident delight of those taking part, very many of them just children, thus perpetuating the tradition. It seems to me that it has become more of a ritual slaughter and a sport than a necessity.

The Faroes are the last of many ocean communities to carry out this practice, once prevalent in the Falklands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, the Orkneys, Hebrides and Cape Cod in the USA. While understandable perhaps, in the past, when food supplies were scarce, it is difficult to understand why they continue with this somewhat barbaric carnage when every kind of food imaginable is available to them now.

The meat from the hunt is divided between every registered islander, a privilege granted at birth. Some regard it as a delicacy but I have heard that much of it is frozen and not even used up by the next 'harvest', as people gradually adopt a more European diet.

Pilot whales are still plentiful and are not registered as an endangered species, but they have many threats to contend with in addition to these hunts. They frequently get tangled in fishing nets and equipment, and being a very social species are prone to strandings on beaches in large numbers. They are also affected by Morbillivirus and it is thought they could spread this disease to other mammals with which they have contact.

Like many marine species, they are vulnerable to pollution in the form of heavy metals, pesticides, and other contaminants which remain in the blubber. Indeed the Faroese people have been warned that their whale meat has very high levels of cadmium and mercury among other pollutants, which are causing health problems particularly among the children. Girls and pregnant women are strongly advised not to consume the meat but many still do so.

Cadmium can cause birth defects and cancer and attempts are being made to limit the use of this metal, which is produced as a by-product of zinc refining. Cadmium sulphide is a canary yellow salt, known as 'cadmium yellow' and used by artists as a pigment. Nowadays it is used to give a deep brilliant yellow colour to many plastic goods.

Mercury is poisonous in whatever form, and its use is being more and more restricted, but it is still has its uses, including treating seed corn to render it resistant to fungus, in street lighting, electrical equipment, rechargeable batteries and dental amalgam.

However, such measures will not reduce the contaminants already in the oceans and in the food chain. Apparently, we all consume minute amounts which are said to be harmless, but one form particularly relevant to marine life is very dangerous: methyl mercury. It is formed by micro-organisms in polluted waters, and is absorbed by marine creatures and then consumed by people.

So it seems to me that whatever we think about their 'tradition' of driving these beautiful animals to their deaths, it would be a wise move on the part of the Faroese to give up this practice for their own health and that of future generations.

Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World Archive

Websailor

05.03.09 Front Page

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