The pod of white-sided dolphins were driven into shallow waters where they were killed with knives for their meat and blubber, as hundreds of locals looked on.
Photos showing the carcasses of the marine mammals lying on Skalabotnur beach in Eysturoy near waters which were turned red by blood have sparked outrage.
The annual hunt, known as the grind, is part of a four-century-old tradition, but this year’s resulted in the single biggest recording of killings in its history.
The slaughter of the dolphins is not commercial and is authorised, but environmental activists have long campaigned against it.
International marine campaign group Sea Shepherd claimed this year’s hunt broke several Faroese laws, saying many participants were unlicensed and had no specific training on how to quickly kill dolphins.
The group said having analysed videos, they believe many dolphins were still alive after being knifed and thrown onshore with the rest of their pod.
The Seattle-based body also claimed that some dolphins had been hacked by the propellers of boats, which would have resulted in slow, painful deaths.
The carcasses of white-sided dolphins pictured on a Faroese beach after they were killed in a traditional hunt. Photo: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
The white-side dolphins and pilot whales are not endangered species.
Some Faroese who defend their right to carry on traditions expressed concern over the size of this year’s hunt, fearing it would draw unwanted attention to the islands.
Heri Petersen, the foreman of a group that drives pilot whales towards shore on the central Faroe island of Eysturoy, where the killings took place on Sunday, said he was not told about the dolphin drive and “strongly dissociated” himself from it.
Mr Petersen told the news outlet in.fo that there were too many dolphins and too few people on the beach to slaughter them.
He said: “I’m appalled at what happened.
“The dolphins lay on the beach writhing for far too long before they were killed.”
The Faroe Islands lie in the North Atlantic 320km north of mainland Scotland.
Islanders usually kill up to 1,000 sea mammals annually, according to data kept by the Faroe Islands. Last year, that included only 35 white-sided dolphins.
Olavur Sjurdarberg, chairman of the Faroese Pilot Whale Hunt Association, feared Sunday’s slaughter would revive the discussion about the sea mammal drives and put a negative spin on the ancient tradition.
Mr Sjurdarberg told local broadcaster KVF: “We need to keep in mind that we are not alone on earth. On the contrary, the world has become much smaller today, with everyone walking around with a camera in their pocket.
“This is a fabulous treat for those who want us [to look bad] when it comes to pilot whale catching.”
Faroese Fishery Minister Jacob Vestergaard defended last weekend’s grind, claiming everything was done by the book.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024. It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine. Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages]. The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts. With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians. Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved. Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world. The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
