A Taste of Whale

Since ancient times, the people of the Faroe Islands have benefited tremendously from the abundance of resources that the surrounding sea offers them. Over the years, the hunting of pilot whales (a species closely related to dolphins) has become not only an important source of their livelihood, but also a national tradition. However, activists defending animal rights consider the hunts to be inhumane and needlessly cruel. They believe that the Faroe Islanders' argument for preserving traditions is unwarranted and unnatural because the Faroese now hunt marine mammals using modern technology, such as walkie-talkies and motorboats. According to them, a nation's culture mustn’t be dependent on the extermination of an endangered species. But if the Faroese way of obtaining meat is seen as barbaric from today's point of view, then why do we still have modern meat factories that slaughter millions of animals each day?“If you aren´t able to kill the animal, you are not allowed to eat it. Quite a lot of people wouldn´t have food today.”