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Whales and Faroese consumers in danger.
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by Simples | October 27, 2009 at 10:22 pm
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ANIMAL WELFARE GROUPS CONDEMN FAROESE PILOT WHALE HUNT
| “The Faroese Government is ignoring the terrifying health warnings of its own Chief Medical Officer. Allowing around 85 tonnes of toxic meat and blubber to be consumed by the islanders is astoundingly irresponsible.” Jennifer Lonsdale, Director of the Environmental Investigation Agency |
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London, 29 May 2009 – Twenty-two animal welfare groups from around the world today fiercely condemned the Faroese government for allowing a grisly hunt for 188 pilot whales this week – putting both the whales and Faroese consumers in danger.
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In a hunt, known as a ‘grind’ in Hvalvik on 23rd May a large family group of whales – including calves and pregnant females – was driven by boats into a cove where they were crudely killed in the blood of their pod mates. Pilot whales are known for their highly social behaviours and close-knit family groups.
The opportunistic hunts take around 1,000 pilot whales each year. Whilst hunts traditionally met subsistence need in the islands, this has not been the case for decades. It would seem that hunts are conducted partly as a sporting ‘rite of passage’ for young men.
Claire Bass, Marine Mammal Programme Manager for the WSPA, said of the hunts “Subjecting intelligent and extremely social animals to this sort of treatment is like something from the dark ages. ‘Culture’ and ‘tradition’ are simply not an excuse for this sort of cruelty in civilized societies.”
Recent research has confirmed that hunts are bad for the Faroese people, as well as the whales. Meat and blubber from the whales is highly contaminated with organic pollutants including PCBs and heavy metals, such as mercury.
Research undertaken in 2008 by Syddansk University in Denmark revealed that consumption of pilot whale meat and blubber is clearly linked with Parkinson’s disease - the Faroese are twice as likely to develop the disease than Danish people. The meat has also been linked to other defects such as foetal abnormalities, heart defects and developmental problems in children.
In response to these findings, on 8th August 2008 the Faroese Chief Medical Officer wrote an open letter to the Government stating that “pilot whales today contain contaminants to a degree that neither meat nor blubber would comply with current limits for acceptable concentrations of toxic contaminants…” Despite this unequivocal warning, meat and blubber from this week’s hunt is being prepared for human consumption.
Jennifer Lonsdale, Director of the Environmental Investigation Agency said “The Faroese Government is ignoring the terrifying health warnings of its own Chief Medical Officer. Allowing around 85 tonnes of toxic meat and blubber to be consumed by the islanders is astoundingly irresponsible.”
Perversely, the Faroese Tourist board promotes the islands for their nature and states on its website that “The protection and preservation of the natural environment and of the animal life in the Faroes is important, not only with regard to the tourist industry, but also for the country as a whole.”
Mark Simmonds, the Science Director at WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, concluded ‘It is deeply saddening that these hunts continue in European waters. There is considerable suffering by the whales and dolphins taken in these hunts and there is no need for the whale meat in the Faroe Islands.”
_________________________________________________________________________
WARNING: Do not eat whale meat
FAROE ISLANDS (30 Nov 2008) — Chief medical officers of the Faroe Islands have recommended that pilot whales no longer be considered fit for human consumption, because they are toxic - as revealed by research on the Faroes themselves.
_________________________________________________________________________
-Ends- Non-governmental organisations condemning the hunts include:
Animal Welfare Institute (USA)
Bluevoice (USA)
Campaign Whale (UK)
Centre for Dolphin Studies (South Africa)
Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit (UK)
Dyrenes Venner (Denmark)
Environmental Investigation Agency (International)
Eurogroup for Animals (Europe)
Fundacion Promar (Panama)
Dyrebeskyttelsen Norge (Norway)
Humane Society International
Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center (Israel)
Marine Connection (UK)
Mammals Encounters Education Research (MEER) (Germany)
OceanCare (Switzerland)
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (UK)
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (South Africa)
Unidad Especial de protección y Rescate Animal (Costa Rica)
Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (International)
Whaleman (USA)
Fundacion Cethus (Argentina)
World Society for the Protection of Animals (International)
_________________________________________________________________________
Sources:
EIA Environmental Investigation Agency
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (12)
at 07:35 on October 28th, 2009
those who animals in the name of jobsworth,are in my veiw are employed to murder.
at 06:09 on October 29th, 2009
FAROÉ ISLANDS, CONSOLES DENMARK - CASE OF POLICES AND JUSTICE!
at 13:54 on November 1st, 2009
Upload feito em 31 de outubro de 2009
por MIRIAM GODET
The EIA easily outstrips any other organisation of my acquaintance in its resourceful, intelligent and courageous pursuit of documented proof an unjustifiable mistreatment of animals. Christine Stevens, Late President of the Animal Welfare Institute, US
Christine Stevens, Late President of the Animal Welfare Institute, USA
ABOUT EIA: PROFILE
www.eia-international.org/about/profile/
The EIA was established in 1984 to investigate, expose and campaign against the illegal trade in wildlife and the destruction of our natural environment.
Working undercover to expose international environmental crime -such as the illegal trade in wildlife, illegal logging and trade in timber species, and the world-wide trade in ozone depleting substances - EIA has directly brought about changes in international laws and the policies of governments, saving the lives of millions of rare and endangered animals and putting a stop to the devastating effects of environmental criminals.
EIA is a small organisation which relies on donations from the public, the support of our members, the efforts of volunteer fund-raisers and the support of charitable foundations. Yet our efforts have saved the lives of millions of animals.
EIA's focused and hard-hitting campaigns have made it one of the most successful conservation groups in the world.
Although ambitious, our campaigns and projects have defined and achievable goals to gain greater protection for wildlife and the environment. Our track record of undercover work, scientific documentation and representation at international conventions has earned EIA a world-wide reputation for highly effective and successful campaigning. We also continue to share these skills with local groups and government officials to help power them in the fight against environmental crime.
www.eia-international.org/cgi/success/success.cgi?t=templ... Para aproveitar ao máximo o Flickr, você deve usar um navegador que permita JavaScript e instalar a última versão do Macromedia Flash Player. Comentários
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at 15:20 on November 1st, 2009
INTERVIEW Dr. Pal Weihe - " For some people, the decision to eat or not eat [pilot whale meat] is absolute. It’s yes or no in a religious way. That is not our message. Our message is, "Please take care of how large your mercury or PCB intake is," and to
DIPITY.COM
www.dipity.com/event/mcqYQup_PoU?tid=uitlAHJ5fBM&mode...
at 09:48 on November 3rd, 2009
BATH OF BLOOD!
In July of 2000, the organization Sea Shepherd, that dedicates it to protect the sea forms of life, sailed until the Feroe Islands to intervine in the annual slaughter of whales pilots. It better obtained that the slaughter was taken to the first pages of European media e, that this, started to make economic pressure on the company that still bought foods of the sea with origin in the Feroe, what it represents 90% of the local economy, with predominance of the purchases made for the dutch giant Unilever. “Above of 20 a thousand points of European sales the retail they had cancelled its contracts of fishes the order of the Sea Shepherd”, informs the vestibule of the entity.
FAROÉ ISLANDS = CONSOLES OF DENMARK = BATH OF BLOOD! One day in shouts and with broken spirit, I promised the souls of the whales that would go defend them!
at 09:59 on November 3rd, 2009
To Her Royal Highness Margrethe II, please stop the whales massacre in Fær Øer. Kind regards. Fermate il massacro di balene nelle isole Fær Øer.
www.beppegrillo.it/iniziative/whalesmassacre/ - II BLOG THE GRILO BEPPE
at 05:32 on November 5th, 2009
End Whale & Dolphin Slaughter in the Faroe Islands! Target: Prime Minister Jóannes Eidesgaard Sponsored by: John Koehler
Whales are sensitive, social animals with highly developed nervous systems. They have a profound capacity to suffer distress, terror and pain. Each year, the Faroese kill pilot whales and other small cetaceans.
Islanders in motorboats first drive the whales into a bay. The chase may be lengthy. The exhausted, terrified and confused whales are eventually driven into the shallows. Here the bloodbath begins. The islanders repeatedly hammer 2.2 kg metal gaffs into the living flesh of each whale until the hooks hold. A 15 cm knife is then used to slash through the blubber and flesh to the spinal column. Next the main blood vessels are severed. The blood-stained bay is soon filled with horribly mutilated and dying whales.
The Faroese celebrate the butchery of their victims in an carnival atmosphere of entertainment. Indoctrinated from an early age, children are often given a day off school to watch the fun. They run down to the bay and clamber over the carcasses of slaughtered whales.
Every year around 2,000 whales are driven ashore and cruelly slaughtered in the Faroe Islands, mid-way between the Shetland Islands and Iceland. For centuries the Faroe Islanders have hunted pilot whales, driving entire schools into killing bays, where they are speared or gaffed from boats, dragged ashore and butchered with knives. Although the Islands are a protectorate of Denmark, they have their own Government and regulations governing the pilot whale hunt or "grind" as it is known.
Aside from the fact that the number of North Atlantic long-finned pilot whales is unknown and they are listed as 'strictly protected' by the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, this is an act of barbarism and pointlessness. By slaughtering 100 whales at a time, the Faroese are wiping out entire pods and family groups. They are removing building blocks from the gene pool of the species and damaging the web of life in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.
The drive hunt is a practice abandoned elsewhere many decades ago, and now outlawed by other European states. The inhabitants of the Faroe Islands have no subsistence need for whale meat, and much of the flesh is left to rot and be dumped; it cannot be exported, as it is polluted with heavy metals and other toxins and therefore cannot meet EU heath standards for human food.
According to Faroese legislation it is also permitted to hunt certain species of small cetaceans other than pilot whales. These include: Bottlenose dolphin; Atlantic white-beaked dolphin; Atlantic white-sided dolphin; and Harbour porpoise (There are also specific regulations for the hunting of harbour porpoise. Harbour porpoises are killed with shotguns).
End Whale & Dolphin Slaughter in the Faroe Islands!
www.thepetitionsite.com/1/end-whale-dolphin-slaughter-in-... signature
goal: 10,000
19,584
signatures!
at 04:01 on November 8th, 2009
La ferocia dell'uomo: la strage dei cetacei in Danimarca nelle isole Feroe
QUANDO L'UOMO DIVENTERA' UN ESSERE UMANO?
www.elicriso.it/it/stragi_compiute_uomo/strage_delfini_da...
Upload feito em 22 de outubro de 2009
por MIRIAM GODET
- reply
mm (not verified)at 16:24 on November 13th, 2009
Please, stop the whale massacre.. To the government who is responsible for taking care of wildlife animals and other living creatures, please do something to caught those people who killed whales. To the people who massacre them, I believe you won't go to heaven when you die. If you were the whale and someone will going to kill you, what do you think you'll feel? God will give justice to them. I swear!
at 14:32 on November 18th, 2009
Whale massacre in Europe
www.odditycentral.com/pics/whale-massacre-in-europe.html
Whale massacre in Europe
April 29th, 2008 Spooky
Don’t look at the photos and video if you’re a big animal lover, it’s “a little” hard to take in…
This “bay of blood” set somewhere in the Faroe Islands is where hundreds, sometimes thousands of pilot whales are literally butchered alive by hungry locals. The hunt known as Grindadrap is centuries old and it hasn’t changed much since then, except for the power-boats, radios and echo-sounders which make life a lot easier for the butchers. They round the poor whales into the shore with the power-boats and when they get really close, the locals plunge into the waves and start hooking them to death in a horrific manner. Then they drag the carcasses to shore and start skinning them and splitting the meat and blubber between all the islands’ inhabitants.
The Faroes economy relies only on economic fishing, but that doesn’t give them the right to slaughter 544 Atlantic white sided dolphins in a single day, like they did in 1988.
recently, studies have shown that the meat and blubber of pilot whales contain high amounts of mercury, PCBs, DDT and dieldrin. For what they do every year these animals deserve to get much more than mercury poisoning. Para aproveitar ao máximo o Flickr, você deve usar um navegador que permita JavaScript e instalar a última versão do Macromedia Flash Player. Comentários
é algo chocante isso, Miriam..
onde acontece essa matança de baleias.?
Postado 39 minutos atrás. ( permalink | excluir )
Olá Marcos!
Essa Chacina e massacre, com baleias e golfinhos, acontece em Faroé Islands, CONSOLES DA DINAMARCA, conhecida também como Ilhas Faroé e Ilhas das Ovelhas.
É um verdadeiro banho de sangue, e, tudo isso para cumprir uma tradição. UM RITUAL DIABÓLICO... que acontece há mais de 1.200 anos. E tudo acobertado com uma legislação da caça à baleia.
E, o pior, esse ataque é feito em centenas de uma só vez, quando as baleias chegam para procriar.
Os faroenses matam as famílias completa. É UMA TRISTEZA!
As crianças brincam em cima das baleias agonizando.
São verdadeiros MONSTROS HUMANOS...
Dinamarca: fábrica de monstros!!!
Ilhas Faroé = Ilhas das Ovelhas = Faroé Islands.
Assista a esses vídeos:
lhas Faroé, Fábrica de monstros.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d9uM0iqgfo
Faroe Whale Cull - Faroe Islands
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oou3N5ylvdI&featu re=fvw
simplesefeliz
www.youtube.com/user/simplesefeliz
...........
Postado 19 minutos atrás. ( permalink | excluir | editar )
Upload feito em 18 de novembro de 2009
por MIRIAM GODET
at 19:54 on November 18th, 2009
Gourment Food Fears
Shanghai Star. 16 May, 2002
whalemeat
A fishmonger cuts fresh whale meat at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, the world's biggest. Some 2,314 tons of fish worth over $16 million are sold here daily.
CAUTION: whale meat is hazardous to your health
Smaller species such as pilot whales, Baird's beaked whales and dolphins, are not subject to IWC restrictions.
.
Levels for PCBs ranged from 0.8 parts per million (ppm) for pilot whale blubber up to 8.9 ppm for dolphin meat and blubber, compared with the 0.5 ppm maximum permitted.
High concentrations of mercury and cancer-causing dioxin were also found.
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Read all the latest news from strandings to releases to research to whaling. You'll find a photo gallery and links to other Cetacean Sites all over the world. It's all here! Examine our Whale Watching List and see what kids have drawn in our competition. Find out who governs the whales and read about our whaling history. Look out for information on our club and our monthly email newsletter. Visit our published pages and read about whalemen adventurers, whale fossils and rescues. We've got whale art, views on whaling, an FAQ, action alerts and a place for your comments. We are expanding all the time. Just visit again and see for yourself.
Sources:
Whales in Danger Information Service - www.whales.org.au
Faroese Islands Pilot Whale Protest Letter
www.whales.org.au/alert/filetter.html
>>>
Gourment Food Fears
Shanghai Star. 16 May, 2002
whalemeat
A fishmonger cuts fresh whale meat at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, the world's biggest. Some 2,314 tons of fish worth over $16 million are sold here daily.
CAUTION: whale meat is hazardous to your health
www.whales.org.au/news/afoodfear.html
>>>
at 06:45 on November 19th, 2009
CALDERONES, CRUEL MATANZA EN LAS FEROE
AUNQUE PAREZCA MENTIRA AÚN HOY EN DÍA SE SIGUE REALIZANDO CADA AÑO ESTA BRUTAL, DANTESCA Y SANGRIENTA MASACRE EN LAS ISLAS FEROE, LAS CUALES PERTENECEN A DINAMARCA. UN PAÍS SUPUESTAMENTE 'CIVILIZADO' Y QUE PERTENECE A LA UNIÓN EUROPEA.
PARA MUCHOS ES DESCONOCIDO ESTE ATENTADO A LA VIDA, A LA SENSIBILIDAD, A TODO. EN ESTA MASACRE SANGUINARIA PARTICIPAN LOS MOZOS PARA 'DEMOSTRAR' QUE ENTRAN EN LA EDAD ADULTA (¡!) ES ABSOLUTAMENTE INCREÍBLE QUE NO SE HAGA NADA PARA EVITAR ESTA BARBARIE QUE SE COMETE CONTRA LOS CALDERONES, UN DELFÍN INTELIGENTÍSIMO QUE TIENE LA PARTICULARIDAD DE ACERCARSE A LAS PERSONAS POR PURA CURIOSIDAD.
Source:
forosilleiro.blogspot.com