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An entire herd of 100 bottlenose dolphins was slaughtered. These dolphins are not among the species normally hunted in the Faroe Islands, however in the last Grindadrap it was still decided to exterminate them. Marine mammals were pushed to beach with boats in the bay of Skálabotnur only to be stabbed to death.
Pilot whales are among the most affected cetaceans during the Faroe slaughter. This time the victims were exactly 99, including 98 adults and a child. In the group there was also a pregnant female, whose fetus was torn, as often happens in these circumstances.
According to data reported by Sea Shepherd, the one that took place in the Faroe Islands was the second largest slaughter of bottlenose dolphins ever in over 120 years. The previous slaughter dates back to 1898, when only one more specimen was killed.
Often the animals undergo a tremendous agony, while they are forced to watch helplessly the extermination of their relatives and companions, amidst the desperate cries and the acrid smell of the blood that expands in the bay.
For intelligent and social animals such as dolphins, inflicting such a torture is of unprecedented cruelty, which exudes pure inhumanity. The horrendous images of the slaughter were released by the environmental organization Sea Shepherd.
In some cases the specimens have injuries caused by the propellers of the boats. The cetaceans continue to be slaughtered with knives and other blades, which are driven into the back of the head to sever the spinal cord. In Japan and the Faroe Islands, bottlenose dolphins, along with other dolphin species such as dolphins, are hunted for food purposes or for sale to dolphinaria.
The dolphins are surrounded by boats and the fishermen slam steel bars under the water to create a sound barrier that pushes the bottlenose dolphins towards the beach, where they are then trapped by means of nets. Some dolphins are selected for sale to dolphinaria, while others are brought ashore where they are killed and sent to food markets.
The number of bottlenose dolphins in the Black Sea is decreasing as well as in the Mediterranean, although they represent the most abundant species of Cetaceans in the latter sea. The other threats are partly due to fishing, which leads to a decrease in the food available to bottlenose dolphins, and partly to other human activities, which cause noise and water pollution, which is particularly damaging to younger specimens.
