Every summer in Denmark's Faroe Islands, hundreds of dolphins and whales are lured in to shore and then brutally slaughtered. But the whales aren't even hunted for their meat: the massacre is part of an antiquated ritual meant to demonstrate masculinity that leads to the death of nearly 1,000 pilot whales every year.
Pilot whales are slaughtered in the highest numbers, but bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic white-beaked dolphins and harbor porpoises are also killed. Dolphins and whales are incredibly intelligent, playful creatures. When the hunters surround them to drive them to the shore, the animals don't know that they're about to die – they think they're just playing with humans.
People on the islands used to eat the whale meat from the hunt, but the local chief medical officers have declared that pilot whale meat now contains too much mercury to be safe for human consumption. Now is the time to stop the 2014 summer whale slaughter.
The Faroe Islands are an autonomous state in Denmark, but the Danish government still represents the islands in matters of international relations. If enough of us speak out and demand an end to the massacre, the governme nt will be forced to respond. Add your name now to demand an end to the slaughter.