Copenhagen's Little Mermaid, which since 1913 has welcomed ships docking in the Danish capital and has become a symbol of the city, was covered in red paint. Red like the blood that every year stains the waters surrounding the Faroe Islands in a deeply unsettling way — the scene of the slaughter of thousands of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), cetaceans also known as pilot whales, carried out by the islanders in an ancient and violent ritual called the grindadráp.

Against whale hunting

The Little Mermaid was defaced specifically to protest against the extermination of these animals, which are surrounded by boats and driven into shallow water, towards small pre-designated bays where men and children hack them to pieces with hooks, gaffs and knives. "Denmark, protect the Faroe Island whales," reads the inscription, written in red and in English on the walkway near the statue.

Denmark's role

The European Union is opposed to the hunting of cetaceans and its laws prohibit this type of practice. However, the Faroe Islands, an archipelago in the North Atlantic, are not part of the EU — they are an autonomous region. The Faroe Islands are, however, a protectorate of Denmark which, as an EU member state, is subject to the laws that ban the hunting of cetaceans and should therefore not side with the whale hunters. Yet it continues to show its support for the Faroe Islands, protecting fishing vessels from the disruptive actions of conservation organisations such as Sea Shepherd.

The numbers of the massacre

According to local authorities, eight hundred pilot whales are hunted in the Faroe Islands every year, while the total population of the species in the North Atlantic numbers around 778,000 individuals. According to Sea Shepherd the figures for the slaughter are higher, with between two thousand and 3,500 cetaceans massacred every year. This year, during the first hunting session, which took place on 21 May, around forty pilot whales are said to have been killed.

Why pilot whales are killed

The annual killing of these highly intelligent and markedly social creatures is perpetuated as "traditional hunting" (even though we doubt that motorboats and sonar can sit comfortably alongside tradition). It is a non-commercial hunt and is not even driven by nutritional need: the cetaceans' meat is not necessary to sustain the local population, and the animals' carcasses are often thrown back into the sea unused.

Sea Shepherd in defence of cetaceans

The grindadráp is not looked upon favourably — to put it mildly — by international public opinion or by many environmental organisations, which every year seek to enforce a European law that prevents the killing of cetaceans. Among the most active is Sea Shepherd, an organisation founded in 1977 by Paul Watson to protect the oceans and the wildlife that inhabits them. The organisation launched its Grindstop campaign years ago, created to protect cetaceans off the Faroe Islands. On 8 May, Sea Shepherd Netherlands also filed a complaint against Denmark with the European Commission over the logistical support and protection provided to the whale hunters.