Friday, August 20, 2010; Sea Shepherd News 
Early Warning System for the Whales: Sea Shepherd Deploys Acoustical Warning System for Whales in the Faroe Islands
Over the last few weeks, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has maintained a presence in the Danish Protectorate of the Faeroe (a.k.a. Faroe) Islands. Sea Shepherd is partnered with the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in our opposition to the brutal and barbaric slaughter of pilot whales by Faeroese citizens.
It is a slaughter more horrific than the killing of the dolphins in Taiji, Japan, and it is taking place in Europe in violation of the Berne Convention, to which Denmark is a signatory.
From our ship the Golfo Azzurro, Sea Shepherd and the Brigitte Bardot Foundation have been gathering evidence on the slaughter of the whales and deploying experimental acoustical devices in the water to ward migrating pilot whales away from the island.
We have kept this idea quiet until now, but today the Faeroese media reported that a pod of pilot whales had escaped because of sounds being broadcasted under the water.
Well, they caught us. We have been doing just that, and it appears that the devices work, and if they work we will be returning next year with more of them to deploy.
The Faeroese slaughter entire pods, including pregnant females and young calves. Not a single whale survives once the Faeroese pull out their long knives and clubs. They perish in an agonizing bloody orgy as drunken fishermen hack, stab, club, and slash the defenseless animals to death, filling the bay with blood.
The Faeroese call it “The Grind” and say it is a tradition. We call it a sadistic blood sport and a crime, a violation of the rules of the European Community, of which the Faeroes receives full bloody benefits: “the majority of the whales are killed and dumped at sea”
The acoustical devices can be left in the sea and will operate for weeks on batteries. They may be the key to saving the lives of many of these gentle whales, deterring them away from the violently cruel reception that the Faeroese would otherwise give them.
The crew of the Golfo Azzurro have not broken any laws, and thus the Danish Navy can only escort them; it cannot board or arrest them.
This campaign is being led by Sea Shepherd France President Lamya Essemlali.
Earlier in the summer, Sea Shepherd Undercover Operative Peter Hammarstedt was able to document one of the cruel pilot whale drives. Since then, the Faeroese have taken to covering the fetuses they tear out of the female wombs so they won’t be photographed, indicating that even they may be somewhat ashamed of their sadistic activities.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Death in the Ferocious Isles: Sea Shepherd under Escort by the Danish Navy
What can be more horrific than the cruel and senseless slaughter of beautiful and intelligent dolphins in Taiji, Japan?
The Academy Award winning film The Cove turned the international spotlight on the bloody carnage of dolphins screaming in pools of their own blood as Japanese fishermen speared them in the shallows of the cove.
What can be more obscenely monstrous than the pitiful screams of impaled dolphins slaughtered without mercy for profit?
There is something worse, far more cruel and wasteful, and it takes place in Europe.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s undercover ship, the Golfo Azzurro, is presently under pursuit by the Danish Navy after a month of covert surveillance operations in the Danish Protectorate of the Faroe Islands.
It is in these islands, halfway between Scotland and Iceland, that the slaughter of entire pods of pilot whales takes place. Not for profit, but because it is considered by the islanders to be fun to kill them.
They do eat some whale meat but the flesh is so contaminated with mercury that Faeroese children have higher levels of mercury in their bodies than any other people on the planet. But the majority of the whales are killed and dumped at sea, and Sea Shepherd was able to secure evidence of this waste.
The images are nightmarish with fetuses torn from the bodies of mothers, and bodies mutilated with clubs, knives and spears as the islanders drive the defenseless whales up onto rocky beaches killing every one, wiping out entire pods.
see images at Mass Slaughter of an entire pod of 236 pilot whales
Danish navy boards and searches
Golfo Azzurro
In Taiji, experienced fishermen do the killing, but in the Faeroes, even the children are encouraged by men to spear and stab the whales to death; many of these men are drunk and laughing, in what they consider to be a traditional festival of slaughter.
The killing is a violation of the Berne Convention of which Denmark is a signatory, but Denmark claims that the Faeroese are not subject to the law as a protectorate despite receiving all benefits from the European Community.
Sea Shepherd, in partnership with the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, worked earlier this summer with an on-the-ground undercover operative and continues to work at sea onboard the Golfo Azzurro to expose the slaughter and investigate ways to defend the pilot whales from the vicious and lethal assaults by the Faeroese.
Yesterday the Golfo Azzurro’s cover was compromised, and the ship was boarded and searched by police. The vessel was released because no laws had been broken, and it is presently being escorted by the Danish Navy.
Sea Shepherd crew members are continuing their patrol, but this time under the watchful eyes and guns of the Danish Navy.