TÓRSHAVN, FAROE ISLANDS — More than 700 dolphins were killed in the Faroe Islands yesterday [Wednesday], more than two-thirds of the approximately 1,000 marine mammals killed across the entirety of last year. Two Sea Shepherd crew members were arrested in the course of the events for documenting the hunts.
Three dolphin hunts, known locally as the ‘grind’, took place across the islands which lie just 200 miles north of Scotland. The graphic scenes saw hundreds of dolphins driven towards the shoreline before being killed using lances and long knives.
706 dolphins were killed across the three hunts, with 406 in Tórshavn, the island’s capital, alone. The scale of the killings is without precedent, surpassing two-thirds of all marine mammals killed on the islands in the entire previous year.
The hunts descended into chaos as whalers admitted there was a shortage of spinal lances, which are mandatory for killing dolphins. Multiple marine mammals were instead killed using knives only leaving the animals stressed for an extended period before bleeding to death. In scenes of prolonged animal cruelty, reports also suggest the lack of equipment and shortage of participants led to dolphins being crushed against rocks, driven over and cut by boat propellers.
As the killings unfolded, two marine conservation crew members from global environmental NGO Sea Shepherd were arrested for documenting the hunts and now face potential deportation. Whalers reported them to the police, alleging they interfered with the hunts, but the group maintains that the crew members were simply documenting the events as they happened.
From the Field
1 / 0
Valentina Crast, Campaign Director for the Faroe Islands at Sea Shepherd, said:
“The events unfolding this week are not a cultural tradition on display. They are chaotic scenes of extreme animal cruelty, producing a death toll exceeding two thirds of last year’s entire annual figure.
“Dolphins were killed without the mandatory equipment. Animals were crushed against rocks and struck by boat propellers. And when a third, secret grind began, one deliberately hidden from public channels, marine conservationists were arrested for documenting it.
“Nobody can ever justify this level of intense suffering inflicted on innocent animals. We call on governments across Europe to stand up to see these hunts banned once and for all.”
Notes to Editors
About the hunts on Wednesday 27 May 2026
The breakdown of marine mammals killed by location, as documented by Sea Shepherd, is listed below. These figures do not include pregnant females or juveniles.
| Tórshavn | 402 pilot whales + 4 bottlenose dolphins | 406 |
| Skalabotnur | 168 white-sided dolphins | 168 |
| Hvalvik | 132 white-sided dolphins | 132 |
| Total | 706 |
About Stop the Grind
The Stop the Grind campaign was formed in September 2021 following the killing of 1,428 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Our goal as an initiative is to raise awareness and pressure the Faroe Islands to stop these killings permanently. Our initiative is made up of approximately 8,000 individual and organisational members campaigning to achieve full protection for all cetaceans migrating past the Faroe Islands. You can review more of our work by visiting our website: stopthegrind.org/the-coalition
About Sea Shepherd
Sea Shepherd is an international, non-profit marine conservation organisation that engages in direct action campaigns to defend wildlife, and conserve and protect the world’s ocean from illegal exploitation and environmental destruction.
For more information, please contact:
Annie Gray, Higginson Strategy
Annie@higginsonstrategy.com · +447496 757341
