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Thanks for the comment I had a good read. My opinion is that if whaling is a tradition held over 500 years, the least they could do is atleast use the same woo

Thanks for the comment I had a good read. My opinion is that if whaling is a tradition held over 500 years, the least they could do is atleast use the same wooden boats and tools from the era, and mantain the tradition as it was, instead of amping it up with modern technologies and motor boats. I can understand the history of cultures is important, but they should atleast stick to the way it was, especially if it will reduce the number of whale deaths and help if anything improve the accuracy of the tradition.

sakarisson 8y ago
Faroese guy here. Feel free to ask me any questions if there is something in this comment that I don't address. As you might imagine, Faroese people have a tendency to get quite defensive when this subject comes up. In my opinion, this mostly comes from the fact that most of the critique is based on misinformation. First of all, I should point out that the whale slaughter is not purely a tradition. It's not like fox hunting or bullfighting, which is are mainly done for entertainment and other non-essential reasons. The whale hunt accounts for a significant portion of the meat consumed in the country. The only other locally sourced meat is sheep and fish. Everything else needs to be imported. The whale hunt is not for fun or for entertainment. It is for food. Is it possible to survive without it? Sure, but then those missing calories will need to be imported, causing damage to the environment and also acting as drain on the already vulnerable economy. The Faroes are largely supported by fishing, and most families own a modern boat. If we for some reason had to do the whaling with traditional wooden boats, then we'd all need to own two boats. Not only that, but the hunt would become much more dangerous and risky for no practical reason. That said, the boats are probably not used for hunting like you imagine it. They are used to herd the whales onto the beach where they are killed using pretty traditional means. This part of the hunt has also diverged from the old days though, and I would definitely say for the better. Originally, the whales were killed by slicing their throats, letting them bleed out. These days doing it like that is illegal. We have developed a new spear-like tool, which makes it easy to sever the spinal cord in a single blow, instantly killing the whales. This eliminates the most painful part for the animal. The whale drives are a communal effort to provide food for the entire community, not a "manhood tradition", as often depicted in the media. I can tell you one thing for certain - if people stopped caring about eating whales, the tradition would also stop.
- lovemenot 8y ago
  Can you estimate the number of whales taken in a year? Of which species?
  - sakarisson 8y ago
    No need to estimate. Every whale is fully accounted for, going back 450 years. Here is a table from 2000 to 2017 http://www.whaling.fo/en/regulated/450-years-of-statistics/catches/ http://www.whaling.fo/en/regulated/450-years-of-statistics/c... As you can see, it varies wildly, going from zero some years to around 1,500 some years.
    - Symbiote 8y ago
      That's interesting, I didn't know there were official statistics. It's a lot more than I would have guessed, given the official recommended maximum consumption of pilot whale [1] is 300g per month per adult. 50,000 people [2] gives 180,000 kg per year. An average mass for a pilot whale might be 1300 kg, of which perhaps half is edible [4]. That means 275 whales is more than enough, yet over double that is caught in the average year. Presumably, many people aren't bothered by the toxins. [1] http://www.whaling.fo/media/1043/hfs-uk_0.pdf http://www.whaling.fo/media/1043/hfs-uk_0.pdf [2] I'm ignoring children, pregnant women etc, who have a lower/nil recommendation, so this estimate is an overestimate [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_whale#Description https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_whale#Description [4] http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/beef/facts/05-075f1.htm http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/beef/facts/05-... or http://www.icrwhale.org/pdf/SC004184-209.pdf http://www.icrwhale.org/pdf/SC004184-209.pdf since I can't see how much meat + blubber there is on a pilot whale
- growlist 8y ago
  > eliminates the most painful part Physical pain perhaps - I'd imagine the herding onto the beach still involves a fair amount of terror for the poor beasts. Also I'm not sure I buy the either/or rationalisation presented. No doubt there are other ways to provide enough calories that might even lead to new exports. Thankfully most of the world views whaling as a shameful throwback to less enlightened times; I look forward to the days when the remaining holdouts see the light.

sakarisson 8y ago

Faroese guy here. Feel free to ask me any questions if there is something in this comment that I don't address. As you might imagine, Faroese people have a tendency to get quite defensive when this subject comes up. In my opinion, this mostly comes from the fact that most of the critique is based on misinformation. First of all, I should point out that the whale slaughter is not purely a tradition. It's not like fox hunting or bullfighting, which is are mainly done for entertainment and other non-essential reasons. The whale hunt accounts for a significant portion of the meat consumed in the country. The only other locally sourced meat is sheep and fish. Everything else needs to be imported. The whale hunt is not for fun or for entertainment. It is for food. Is it possible to survive without it? Sure, but then those missing calories will need to be imported, causing damage to the environment and also acting as drain on the already vulnerable economy. The Faroes are largely supported by fishing, and most families own a modern boat. If we for some reason had to do the whaling with traditional wooden boats, then we'd all need to own two boats. Not only that, but the hunt would become much more dangerous and risky for no practical reason. That said, the boats are probably not used for hunting like you imagine it. They are used to herd the whales onto the beach where they are killed using pretty traditional means. This part of the hunt has also diverged from the old days though, and I would definitely say for the better. Originally, the whales were killed by slicing their throats, letting them bleed out. These days doing it like that is illegal. We have developed a new spear-like tool, which makes it easy to sever the spinal cord in a single blow, instantly killing the whales. This eliminates the most painful part for the animal. The whale drives are a communal effort to provide food for the entire community, not a "manhood tradition", as often depicted in the media. I can tell you one thing for certain - if people stopped caring about eating whales, the tradition would also stop.

lovemenot 8y ago
Can you estimate the number of whales taken in a year? Of which species?
- sakarisson 8y ago
  No need to estimate. Every whale is fully accounted for, going back 450 years. Here is a table from 2000 to 2017 http://www.whaling.fo/en/regulated/450-years-of-statistics/catches/ http://www.whaling.fo/en/regulated/450-years-of-statistics/c... As you can see, it varies wildly, going from zero some years to around 1,500 some years.
  - Symbiote 8y ago
    That's interesting, I didn't know there were official statistics. It's a lot more than I would have guessed, given the official recommended maximum consumption of pilot whale [1] is 300g per month per adult. 50,000 people [2] gives 180,000 kg per year. An average mass for a pilot whale might be 1300 kg, of which perhaps half is edible [4]. That means 275 whales is more than enough, yet over double that is caught in the average year. Presumably, many people aren't bothered by the toxins. [1] http://www.whaling.fo/media/1043/hfs-uk_0.pdf http://www.whaling.fo/media/1043/hfs-uk_0.pdf [2] I'm ignoring children, pregnant women etc, who have a lower/nil recommendation, so this estimate is an overestimate [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_whale#Description https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_whale#Description [4] http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/beef/facts/05-075f1.htm http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/beef/facts/05-... or http://www.icrwhale.org/pdf/SC004184-209.pdf http://www.icrwhale.org/pdf/SC004184-209.pdf since I can't see how much meat + blubber there is on a pilot whale
growlist 8y ago
> eliminates the most painful part Physical pain perhaps - I'd imagine the herding onto the beach still involves a fair amount of terror for the poor beasts. Also I'm not sure I buy the either/or rationalisation presented. No doubt there are other ways to provide enough calories that might even lead to new exports. Thankfully most of the world views whaling as a shameful throwback to less enlightened times; I look forward to the days when the remaining holdouts see the light.