14 DAY TRIAL // Only yesterday, Sea Shepherd made it public news that they decided to report Denmark at the European Commission.
This is because, despite previous promises to safeguard pilot whales, the country has thus far failed to put an end to the ritual hunt taking place each year in the Faroe Islands.
As said green-oriented group explains, Denmark agreed to sign the Bern Convention, the Bonn Convention and ASCOBANS, all of which make it responsible for what happens to the pilot whales presently inhabiting the waters near the Faroe Islands.
However, the country now claims it can do nothing to put an end to “Grindatrap,” or the “Grind,” as this ritual slaughter of whales is locally referred to.
Apparently, it is Denmark's belief that the people living in the Faroe Islands need to kill these whales in order to keep their economy up and running and in order to ensure that they have enough to eat.
Still, Sea Shepherd wishes to draw attention to the fact that, “If those killings were once necessary to the survival of the Faroese people, those days are long gone.”
“The Faroese population now enjoys the highest standard of living in Europe and also receives important subsidies from Europe through Denmark,” the organization goes on to add.
What is even more interesting is that, according to the conservationists working with Sea Shepherd, both the meat and the fatty tissues of the pilot whales slaughtered by the residents of the Faroe Islands contain traces of mercury and other similar pollutants, which basically means that they are not suitable for human consumption.
In other words, the pilots whales are killed for no good reason, seeing how feeding on them poses great risks to public health.
“Everywhere else in Europe, pilot whales are being protected and efforts are being made to reduce bycatch and accidental disturbances/risks, but in the Faroe Islands, entire families are still being driven to the beaches and being completely exterminated in one of the most brutal, man-made slaughters on Earth,” Sea Shepherd explains.
For the time being, officials in Denmark chose to not comment on these accusations.