Update: The first grind of 2025 took place in the Faroe Islands, turning Árnafjarðarvík red with the blood of 47 pilot whales. Without action, this horrific practice will continue to kill thousands, with more gruesome hunts planned throughout the year. Learn more and stay updated on grindadráp alerts by following @onlyone on social media.
The Faroe Islands are known for their annual pilot whale hunt, a tradition called the grindadráp or sometimes referred to as the grind. The activity has been called into question by locals and health experts after decades of research have revealed the health consequences of consuming dolphin and pilot whale meat. Levels of carcinogens and toxins such as methylmercury and PCB have been rising within marine animals over the decades as a result of industrial pollution, leading to a number of health consequences including neurological and developmental damage.
Over 850 pilot whales were hunted last year alone, and since the turn of the century, more than 20,000 cetaceans — pilot whales, white-sided dolphins, and bottlenose dolphins — have been massacred off the Faroese shore.
Hunts are often prolonged and terror-inducing ordeals for these intelligent, social animals, where entire pods, including calves, are mercilessly butchered in the name of tradition.
This campaign began in 2021, when an entire super pod of at least 1,428 white-sided dolphins was killed in a record hunt that even seasoned whalers have deemed unethical. The massive pod, as in all hunts, was driven onto the beach by a coordinated fleet of boats and jet skis to be killed one by one. Panicked dolphins, including pregnant females and calves, were traumatized over the course of several hours, in a hunt that reportedly spanned more than 45 kilometers.
