Faroe Whale Cull (2007): With Japan's ritual dolphin hunts getting significant attention recently, take a look at an arguably more controversial ritual in the Faroe Islands - where people hunt whales.
The Faroe Islands, midway between Scotland and Iceland, were settled by Vikings a thousand years ago. Remote and intriguing, they look like something out of a Norse fairy tale.
People live in log houses with turf rooves, speak an ancient Viking language and delight in dressing up in traditional costume and singing Norse ballads. But there is one part of their picture-postcard culture that outsiders find positively shocking. Every northern summer, Faroese herd pods of pilot whales to shore and butcher them with hooks and knives, before cutting up the meat to share with each family. It's seen as a birth right and a celebration of Faroese culture. The islanders have steadfastly resisted international pressure to stop. Kate Sanderson moved to the Faroes from Australia 22 years ago and married a local. She tells tells us: "You know what we say, save the whales for dinner!”
Sanderson is the chief international negotiator on whaling and fishing. "Two generations of media hype and campaigning against whaling have really warped people's view of what whaling today is all about" - she says - "Those countries that continue to (hunt) whales today are all countries that have a very long tradition of eating whale." By Journeyman Pictures
Jan 25, 2014
Australia
Open
