scholarly journals Dietary recommendations regarding pilot whale meat and blubber in the Faroe Islands

2012 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 18594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pál Weihe ◽  
Høgni Debes Joensen
2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedict E. Singleton

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


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 37-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Fielding ◽  
John E. Davis ◽  
Benedict E. Singleton

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.


1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (8) ◽  
pp. 1884-1892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liselotte Wesley Andersen

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.


Parasitology ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Balbuena ◽  
J. A. Raga

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Maria Mamzer

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.


Author(s):  
Hjørdis Haraldsdóttir Jensen ◽  
Bjørg Mikkelsen

<p><strong>Úrtak</strong><br />Í Føroyum er høgur títtleiki av sjúkuni Carnitine Transporter Defekt (CTD), og taka CTD sjúklingar tilskot av karnitini. Tað er eisini umráðandi, at CTD sjúklingar eta mat, ið inniheldur karnitin. Karnitin í mati verður betur upptikið, enn tá karnitin verður tikið sum tilskot. Innihaldið av karnitini er áður kannað í ymiskum matvørum, og vísir tað seg at vera hægst í kjøtvørum og lægst í grønmeti. Tað er eisini funnið positivt samband millum reytt kjøt og innihaldið av karnitini. Í Føroyum hava vit nakrar siðbundnar matvørur, har innihaldið av karnitini ikki hevur verið kannað áður, m.a. tvøst. <br />Í 2018 varð innihaldið av karnitini í 15 lambstjógvum kannað, meðan innihaldið av karnitini í tvøsti varð kannað í tveimum umførum í 2015 og 2017. Tvøst var tikið frá 31 hvalum (13 kvenn- og 18 kallhvalir). Miðal innihaldið av karnitini í lambstjógvi var 1617 mg/kg, meðan miðal innihaldið av karnitini í tvøsti var 178 mg/kg. Fyri tvøst var innihaldið signifikant hægri í vaksnum kallhvali enn í vaksnum kvennhvali. Kanningin vísur, at lambstjógv er ein góð kelda til náttúruligt karnitin, og innihaldið av karnitini í seyðakjøti er hægri enn m.a. í neytakjøti og svínakjøti. Innihaldið av karnitini í tvøsti var væl lægri enn í seyðakjøti, men tvøst inniheldur meira karnitin enn eitt nú høna og laksur. Fleiri møguligar náttúruligar keldur til karnitin mangla enn at verða lýstar, so sum ymisk fiskasløg, villur fuglur og annar siðbundin føroyskur matur. Eisini kundi verið áhugavert at lýst, hvussu matgerð ávirkar innihaldið av karnitini í matvørum. Aðrar kanningar vísa, at nakað av karnitininum fer út í soðið, tá ið kjøt verður viðgjørt, og tískil er súpan og sós av soði, soleiðis sum vanligt er at gera í Føroyum, eisini keldur til náttúruligt karnitin.</p><p><strong>Abstract <br /></strong>The Faroe Islands have a high frequency of Carnitine Transporter Defect (CTD) and these patients need to take carnitine supplements. It is however important that CTD patients consume food with high content of  carnitine, because natural carnitine in food is a better source of carnitine, since it is more accessible to the body than supplements of carnitine. The content of carnitine has been analysed in different kinds of food, and the levels are highest in meat products and lowest in vegetables. Studies show a positive correlation between red meat and carnitine. In the Faroe Islands there are some traditional foods were the content of carnitine is unknown e.g. the meat of pilot whale. In 2018, the levels of carnitine were analysed in meat from 15 lambs, while the levels of carnitine in the meat of pilot whale were analysed at two different times in year 2015 and 2017. The meat of pilot whale originated form 31 pilots whales (13 females and 18 males). The mean levels of carnitine in lamb meat was 1617 mg/kg while the levels of carnitine in the meat of pilot whale was 178 mg/kg. The levels in the meat from the adult pilot males was significantly higher than in the adult pilot females. The results show that lamb meat is a good source of natural carnitine and the levels are higher in lamb meat than in cow and pig meat. The levels in meat from pilot whale is much lower than in lamb meat, but higher than e.g in chicken and salmon. There are still some more natural sources of carnitine that need to be studied such as different kinds of fish species, wild birds and other traditional Faroese food. It could also be interesting to look at the effect of cooking on the levels of carnitine in food. Other studies have found that some of the carnitine went into the water fraction, when preparing the meat. In this way, gravy or broth also becomes a source of natural carnitine when consuming soup and sauce, as is common in the Faroese Islands.</p>


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