scholarly journals Love-iathan, the meat-whale and hidden people: ordering Faroese pilot whaling

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedict E. Singleton
Keyword(s):  
News Item ◽  
Faroe Islands ◽  
Political Ontology ◽  
Pilot Whale ◽  
Environmental Dispute ◽  
Pilot Whales ◽  
Ocean Environment

A key question in any environmental dispute is the nature of what is under discussion. 'Cosmopolitics' – political battles over the form of reality – are a feature of many environmental clashes. This article focuses on one such clash: during the summer of 2014, grindadráp – the iconic practice of driving pilot whales for meat – was the big news item in the Faroe Islands. More accurately, a conservation campaign by the controversial group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), Operation Grindstop 2014, garnered most attention. Aiming to stop or at least disrupt the 'barbaric' and 'sadistic' grindadráp, SSCS were involved in several confrontations with Faroese authorities and publicly engaged with Faroese pro-whaling advocates in several discussions that were seemingly fruitless. Based on 3 months fieldwork during the campaign, this article describes a 'political ontology' of Grindstop 2014. What emerged was a 'hybrid' born of a clash between two fundamentally dissonant systems of ordering, which structured and were reinforced by various practices, both discursive and material. Activists on both sides were engaged in a cosmopolitical struggle to decisively enact their orderings, creating alternative stories of whales, Faroese whaling, the ocean environment and modernity. The aim is to understand what happened when these orderings met. This article argues that throughout the summer these two orderings moved apart, consequently hiding the diversity of opinion and discussion within Faroese society around grindadráp. As such, alternative orderings of grindadráp were suppressed, notably those voiced by Faroese activists arguing that the practice should cease because of the high levels of toxins in pilot whale meat.Key words: Faroe Islands, whaling, political ontology, cosmopolitics

Electrophoretic differentiation among local populations of the long-finned pilot whale, Globicephala melaena, at the Faroe Islands

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (8) ◽  
pp. 1884-1892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liselotte Wesley Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Muscle Tissue ◽  
Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Faroe Islands ◽  
Starch Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Pilot Whale ◽  
Local Populations ◽  
Starch Gel ◽  
Pilot Whales ◽  
Polymorphic Enzymes

Enzyme variation within and between nine schools of long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melaena, caught at the Faroe Islands, was examined by starch gel electrophoresis. Twenty-seven enzymes were investigated, representing 41 loci, of which three were polymorphic. The polymorphic enzymes were analyzed in either liver or muscle tissue from 628 specimens. No heterogeneity within the schools was observed, while significant differences in allele frequencies between schools were detected by a multilocus G-test. This result indicated some degree of reproductive isolation.

Intestinal helminth communities of the long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) off the Faroe Islands

Parasitology ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Balbuena ◽  
J. A. Raga
Keyword(s):  
Intestinal Helminth ◽  
Faroe Islands ◽  
Specific Interactions ◽  
Helminth Parasites ◽  
Marine Habitat ◽  
Pilot Whale ◽  
Recurrent Group ◽  
Globicephala Melas ◽  
Helminth Communities ◽  
Pilot Whales

SUMMARYThe intestines of 170 long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melas, caught off the Faroe Islands (N.E. Atlantic) were examined for helminth parasites. Eight species were detected but only 4 occurred in at least 10% of the sample. No core or recurrent group of species were identified and no correlations between abundances of species were significant. Diversity values were far below those reported for other endotherms. Colonization by helminths was random, whales not being readily colonized. These features point to largely unpredictable, isolationist infracommunities, there being little potential for inter-specific interactions. Older hosts tended to harbour more diverse infracommunities, offering more opportunities for such interactions. Two hypotheses, which might also apply to other cetaceans, are proposed to account for the depauperate helminth communities of the pilot whale: (i) some ancestral helminth species failed to adapt their cycles to the marine habitat and (ii) the hosts' isolation from land prohibited new infections with helminths of mammals.

scholarly journals Ritual Slaughter: The Tradition of Pilot Whale Hunting on the Faroe Islands

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Maria Mamzer
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Perceptions ◽  
Faroe Islands ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Pilot Whale ◽  
The Past ◽  
Pilot Whales ◽  
Conscious Animals

Faroese people consider grindadráp, the hunting of pilot whales, as a part of their cultural heritage, but from the point of view of veterinary sciences and biology, the method of killing pilot whales is a form of a ritual slaughter performed on fully conscious animals that are aware of their circumstances. Pilot whales are social, intelligent, and communicative animals that demonstrate complex social behaviors. Therefore, this traditional whaling method should be considered as a procedure in which animals are exposed to high levels of distress. In the context of contemporary civilizational development and material welfare, the practice of whaling may appear to be an inadequate and cruel relic of the past. This text explores social and cultural issues caused by pilot whale hunts and presents an understanding of the term tradition and some perspectives of how traditions change. The specificity of pilot whales as a species is presented, setting a foundation for a discussion about hunting itself. The conclusion of the text discusses different social perceptions of grindadráp by presenting arguments for and against the hunting. This analysis includes a presentation of actions undertaken bywhale hunting opponents.

Ecology and host relationships of the whale-louse Isocyamus delphini (Amphipoda: Cyamidae) parasitizing long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) off the Faroe Islands (Northeast Atlantic)

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Balbuena ◽  
J. A. Raga
Keyword(s):  
Faroe Islands ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Pilot Whale ◽  
Northeast Atlantic ◽  
Globicephala Melas ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Host Relationships ◽  
Pilot Whales ◽  
Sexually Mature ◽  
International Research Program

In cooperation with an international research program concerning the biology of the long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) in the Northeast Atlantic, 152 pilot whales taken in the Faroese drive fishery were examined for ectoparasites. The whale-louse Isocyamus delphini was detected on 45(29.61%) of the whales. Four whale groups were established, according to sex and sexual status: immature or pubertal males, mature males, immature females, and mature females. Whale-lice showed over-dispersed distributions on these four whale groups. Prevalence, abundance, and spatial distribution of I. delphini on sexually mature males were significantly different from those on the other whale classes. Heavy infections were only observed on mature males. Behavioral differences between males and females and between adults and juveniles could account for these results. The genital slit was by far the site most preferred by I. delphini. This location seems to be one of the few that offers appropriate shelter for this cyamid.

Mutual AID, Environmental Policy, and the Regulation of Faroese Pilot Whaling

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 37-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Fielding ◽  
John E. Davis ◽  
Benedict E. Singleton
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Recent Change ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Faroe Islands ◽  
Mutual Aid ◽  
Pilot Whale ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
The Subject

This paper examines the evolution of unwritten regulations and formal government policies in the control of the Faroese pilot whale drive, or grindadráp. This form of whaling has occurred in the Faroe Islands since at least the sixteenth century, probably much longer. Informed by theories of anarchist geography, we discuss specific policies, both formal and informal, regulating when and where whales may be pursued, actions of whalers in boats and onshore, equipment permitted for use, and the distribution of meat and blubber from the hunt that have developed over the centuries in response to internal or external pressures and calls for change. Our discussion gives special attention to a recent change in the regulation of grin-dadráp, namely the requirement, beginning in 2015, that whalers who participate in the killing process—as distinct from other aspects of whaling—be certified as having attended a training course on the subject. We conclude with a discussion of lessons learned through a reading of anarchist geographies as applied to the topic at hand.

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