Dolphin drive hunting: Difference between revisions

'''Dolphin drive hunting''', also called '''dolphin drive fishing''', is a method of [[hunting]] [[dolphin]]s and occasionally other small [[cetacean]]s by driving them together with boats and then, usually into a bay or onto a beach. Their escape is prevented by closing off the route to the open sea or ocean with boats and nets. Dolphins are hunted this way in several places around the world, including the [[Solomon Islands]], the [[Faroe Islands]], [[Peru]], and [[Japan]], which is the most well-known practitioner of thisthe method. ByIn large numbers, dolphins are mostly hunted for their [[whale meat|meat]]; some end up in [[dolphinarium]]s.

Despite the controversial nature of the hunt resulting in international criticism, and the possible health risk that the often polluted meat causes, tens of thousands of dolphins are caught in drive hunts each year. <ref>[[Animal Welfare Institute/August 07, 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://awionline.org/press-releases/report-100000-dolphins-small-whales-and-porpoises-slaughtered-globally-each-year]]|title=Report: 100,000+ Dolphins, Small Whales and Porpoises Slaughtered Globally Each Year|date=7 August 2018 }}</ref>

Whaling in the [[Faroe Islands]] takes the form of beaching and slaughtering [[long-finned pilot whale]]s. It has been practiced since about the time of the first [[Norsemen|Norse]] settlements on these [[North Atlantic]] islands, and thus can be considered [[aboriginal whaling]]. It is mentioned in the [[Sheep Letter]], a Faroese law from 1298, a supplement to the [[Norway|Norwegian]] [[Gulating]] law.<ref name="Disappearing Foods">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XR9YIaG0kIcC&q=sheep+letter+1298+grind&pg=PA86|title=Disappearing Foods: Studies in Foods and Dishes at Risk|last=Walker|first=Harlan|isbn=9780907325628|year=1995|publisher=Oxford Symposium }}</ref>

Nowadays,It it is closely regulated by the Faroese authorities,<ref name="logir.fo">[http://www.logir.fo/Logtingslog/56-fra-19-05-2015-um-grind-og-annan-smahval logir.fo]</ref> with around 800 long-finned pilot whales<ref name="hagstova.fo">[http://www.hagstova.fo/fo/hagtalsgrunnur/vinna-og-veida/grind Grind | Hagstova Føroya<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and some [[Atlantic white-sided dolphin]]s slaughtered annually;<ref>{{cite web|title=Grinds de 2000 à 2013 |url=http://www.whaling.fo/Default.aspx?ID=7125 |website=www.whaling.fo/ Catch figures |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106012321/http://whaling.fo/Default.aspx?ID=7125 |archive-date=6 November 2014 }}</ref> mainly during the summer. The hunts, called ''grindadráp'' in [[Faroese language|Faroese]], are non-commercial and are organized on a community level. Anyone who has a special training certificate on slaughtering a pilot whale with the spinal-cord lance can participate.<ref name="Certificate2015">{{cite web|url=http://www.in.fo/news-detail/news/nu-eru-1380-foeroyingar-klarir-at-fara-i-grind/|title=Nú eru 1380 føroyingar klárir at fara í grind|last=Bertholdsen|first=Áki|date=5 March 2015|publisher=Sosialurin - in.fo|language=fo|access-date=2 August 2015|archive-date=5 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205140146/https://www.in.fo/news-detail/news/nu-eru-1380-foeroyingar-klarir-at-fara-i-grind/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="The Grind Law">{{cite web|url=http://www.logir.fo/Logtingslog/56-fra-19-05-2015-um-grind-og-annan-smahval|title=Løgtingslóg um grind og annan smáhval, sum seinast broytt við løgtingslóg nr. 93 frá 22. juni 2015|date=19 May 2015|publisher=Logir.fo|language=fo|access-date=2 August 2015}}</ref> The police and Grindaformenn are allowed to remove people from the grind area.<ref name="logir.fo"/> The hunters first surround the pilot whales with a wide semicircle of boats. The boats then drive the pilot whales into a [[bay]] or to the bottom of a [[fjord]]. Not all bays are certified, and the slaughter will only take place on a certified beach.

Many Faroese consider the whale meat an important part of their food culture and history. Animal rights groups criticize the slaughter as being cruel and unnecessary.<ref>[http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1618799/faroe_whale_killing_a_cruel_and_unnecessary_ritual_or_a_sustainable_food_practice.html theecologist.org]</ref><ref name="The Knowledge 2014">{{cite web|url=http://theknowledgeplymouth.co.uk/whaling-in-the-faroe-islands-a-cruel-and-unnecessary-ritual-or-sustainable-food-practice/|title=Whaling in the Faroe Islands: a cruel and unnecessary ritual or sustainable food practice?|last=Barrat|first=Harry|date=3 February 2014|publisher=The Knowledge|access-date=2 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222112614/http://theknowledgeplymouth.co.uk/whaling-in-the-faroe-islands-a-cruel-and-unnecessary-ritual-or-sustainable-food-practice/|archive-date=22 December 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Advocacy for Animals 2010">{{cite web|url=http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2010/04/the-faroe-islands-whale-hunt/|title=The Faroe Islands Whale Hunt|last=Duignan|first=Brian|date=26 April 2010|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica - Advocacy for Animals|access-date=2 August 2015}}</ref> In November 2008, Høgni Debes Joensen, chief medical officer of the Faroe Islands and Pál Weihe, scientist, have recommended in a letter to the Faroese government that pilot whales should no longer be considered fit for human consumption because of the high level of [[mercury (element)|mercury]], [[Polychlorinated biphenyl|PCB]] and [[DDT]] derivatives.<ref>[{{Cite web |url=http://www.landslaeknin.fo/upload/tilmaeli_um_grind.pdf |title=landslaeknin.fo] |access-date=19 April 2018 |archive-date=10 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810025738/http://www.landslaeknin.fo/upload/tilmaeli_um_grind.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="toxic-whale">{{cite news |first=Debora |last=MacKenzie |date=28 November 2008 |title=Faroe islanders told to stop eating 'toxic' whales. |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16159-faroe-islanders-told-to-stop-eating-toxic-whales.html |work=[[New Scientist]] |access-date=21 July 2009}}</ref> However, the Faroese government did not forbid whaling. On 1 July 2011 the Faroese Food and Veterinary Authority announced their recommendation regarding the safety of eating meat and blubber from the pilot whale, which was not as strict as the one of the chief medical officerofficers. The new recommendation says only one dinner with whale meat and blubber per month, with a special recommendation for younger women, girls, pregnant women and breastfeeding women.<ref name="hfs.fo">[http://www.hfs.fo/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/HFS/WWW_HFS_FO/UMSITING/KUNNANDITILFAR/KUNNANDITILFARFRABODANIR/KUNNTILFFRAMATVORUR/GRIND_0.PDF hsf.fo – the Faroese Food- and veterinary authority] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810183632/http://www.hfs.fo/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/HFS/WWW_HFS_FO/UMSITING/KUNNANDITILFAR/KUNNANDITILFARFRABODANIR/KUNNTILFFRAMATVORUR/GRIND_0.PDF |date=10 August 2014 }}</ref> From 2002 to 2009 the PCB concentration in whale meat has fallen by 75%, DDT values in the same time period have fallen by 70% and mercury levels have also fallen.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://us.fo/Default.aspx?ID=10642|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206224651/http://us.fo/Default.aspx?ID=10642|archive-date=6 February 2015|title=Kyksilvur í grind}}</ref>

In the late 1970s, after the [[Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972]] and the ban on hunting killer whales in [[Washington (state)|Washington]] in 1976 as discussed later in this article, the hunting of killer whales in Iceland resumed, this time aiming to capture live animals for the entertainment industry. The first two killer whales captured went to [[Dolfinarium Harderwijk]] in the [[Netherlands]]. One of these animals was soon after transferred to [[SeaWorld]]. These captures continued until 1989, with the additional animals going to SeaWorld, [[Marineland (Antibes)|Marineland Antibes]], [[Marineland of Canada]], [[Kamogawa Sea World]], [[Ocean Park, Hong Kong|Ocean Park Hong Kong]], and [[Conny-Land]].<ref>PBS - Frontline - [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/etc/cron.html A whale of a business - historical chronology], article retrieved 9 March 2014.</ref>

{{Main|Taiji dolphin drive hunt|History of dolphin fishing and utilization in Japan}}

The '''Taiji dolphin drive hunt''' captures small cetaceans for [[whale meat|their meat]] and for sale to [[dolphinarium]]s. [[Taiji, Wakayama|Taiji]] has a long connection to [[whaling in Japan|Japanese whaling]]. The 2009 documentary film ''[[The Cove (film)|The Cove]]'' drew international attention to the hunt. Taiji is the only town in Japan where drive hunting still takes place on a large scale. Concern is majority through the methodology of the hunt, as actions are viewed as inhumane. An article by ''[[National Geographic]]'' refers to The [[Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums]]' decision to no longer support the Taiji hunt. In 2015, it was announced that there would be a ban in the buying and selling of dolphins through the means of this hunt.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

[[File:Dusky Dolphin being skinned.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Dusky dolphin]] being skinned on a boat in Peru.]]

[[File:Dolphinhuntsolomon.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Dolphins in a canoe after being killed by locals on the [[Solomon Islands]].]]

In ancient [[Hawaii]], fishermen occasionally hunted dolphins for their meat by driving them onto the beach and killing them. In their ancient legal system, dolphin meat was considered to be ''[[Kapu (Hawaiian culture)|kapu]]'' (forbidden) for women together with several other kinds of food. As of 2008, dolphin drive hunting no longer takes place in Hawaii.<ref>Earthtrust (year unknown), [https://web.archive.org/web/20130816121045/http://earthtrust.org/wlcurric/dolphins.html - Hunting/Subsistence Use], article retrieved on 21 June 2008.</ref>

Drive hunting methods were used to capture orcas in the [[Puget Sound]] in the 1960s and 1970s. These hunts were led by aquarium owner and entrepreneur [[Edward "Ted" Griffin]] and his partner Don Goldsberry. After EdwardGriffin purchased an orca that was caught by accident by fishermen in [[Namu, British Columbia|Namu]], [[British Columbia]], in 1965, EdwardGriffin and DonGoldsberry used drive hunting techniques in the Puget Sound area to capture orcas for the entertainment industry.<ref>[[PBS]] - [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/etc/summary.html Edward "Ted" Griffin - The Life and Adventures of a man who caught Killer Whales], article retrieved 19 December 2013.</ref> They implemented their new methods for orca capture in their [[Yukon Harbor orca capture operation|Yukon Harbor operation]] in 1967.<ref name=Colby103>{{cite book |last=Colby |first=Jason M. |title=Orca: how we came to know and love the ocean's greatest predator |year=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780190673116 |page=103 }}</ref> Others followed and despite the [[Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972]] the practice continued until 1976 when the state of Washington ordered the release of a number of orcas that were being held in [[Budd Inlet]] and subsequently banned the practice.<ref>Timothy Egan, The Good Rain: Across Time & Terrain in the Pacific Northwest, page 141.</ref>

* [http://www.takepart.com/thecove/ Create worldwide awareness of dolphin slaughter and high level of toxic mercury in dolphin meat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906063821/http://www.takepart.com/thecove/ |date=6 September 2011 }}