In 2025, 996 pilot whales and white sided dolphins were killed in the Faroe Islands, entire pods driven into shallow bays and slaughtered in public view, including pregnant females and calves. Sea Shepherd has documented hunts dragging on well beyond what is claimed as humane, at times lasting as long as ninety minutes, proving that the grind is neither quick nor compassionate.
The Faroe Islands are a modern society with high living standards, strong infrastructure, and full access to imported foods through international trade. In this context, the grindadráp cannot be defended as a matter of survival, in fact it isn’t. The killing of entire dolphin pods is maintained purely as a cultural tradition. Local reporting and Sea Shepherd documentation have exposed the killing to far exceed any demand by the small part of the population that eats dolphin regularly, with meat shifted from town to town to avoid the appearance of waste.
Exposing the Myth of Food Security
When Tórshavn municipality refused a share of whale meat this year, the decision drew public criticism not because people went hungry, but because it broke with the expectation that every town must help distribute the catch. These hunts are not driven by food security, but by the need to keep the practice alive. Even when freezers are full, the grind continues, and the claim of “sustainable food” does not hold up.
Decades of research, much of it led by Faroese scientists themselves, has shown that pilot whale meat and blubber contain dangerous levels of mercury and persistent organic pollutants. Long-term consumption is linked to neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease, and developmental harm in children. While the Faroese government has issued limited advisories for women and children, the group that consumes the most, men (who also carry the cultural responsibility for the grindadráp) receives almost no targeted health warnings. The result is a silence that leaves those most at risk uninformed, and it raises an uncomfortable question: why is the group most exposed to these toxins given the least guidance?
Children Forced to Witness Violence
The grindadráp also raises serious questions about children’s rights. In 2023, the United Nations issued General Comment 26, which for the first time made explicit that children must be protected from exposure to violence, including violence inflicted on animals. Despite this binding obligation, Faroese children continue to stand on blood-soaked shores watching whales and dolphins killed. Psychologists warn that normalizing violence toward animals can desensitize young people, shaping their attitudes toward aggression and cruelty. When governments fail to shield children from such scenes, they are not only disregarding international law, they are failing in their duty of care to the next generation.
Beyond the Faroe Islands, international attention on the grind is growing. In Brussels, Sea Shepherd has worked with members of the European Parliament to submit a motion for resolution, using trade and political leverage to press the Faroese government to end the hunts. We will also return to Ocean Week in Brussels in November, where NGOs and policymakers join forces to discuss important pathways for the global community to exert pressure on the Faroese government to end its support for whaling These efforts build on more than four decades of campaigning, ensuring that the grindadráp is no longer treated as an isolated cultural practice but as a matter of global concern.
As winter approaches and the hunts slow, our mission does not. The grindadráp wipes out entire pods, destroying genetic diversity and the social fabric of whale and dolphin families that has developed over millions of years. The health consequences for those who eat the meat are well documented, and the impact on children who witness the hunts is undeniable. For more than four decades, Sea Shepherd has ensured that these realities are not hidden, and we will continue to support Faroese voices calling for change while applying international pressure to end the hunts. Until the killing of entire pods is consigned to history, we will not stop.
How Sea Shepherd Operates in The Faroes
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Together, we can end the slaughter of entire pods.
