“This practice of serving dolphin meat is tantamount to poisoning people,” he told The Japan Times. “They may as well serve them arsenic; it would be no less harmful.”
And yet, a representative from the office of Laurie Fulton, US Ambassador to Denmark, Greenland, and the Faeroe Islands, at NAMMCO, who declined to give her name or go on record, said she was unaware of the negative health effects of eating the pilot whale meat and said she’d be surprised since the Faroese are health conscious people.
The fear is, of course, that word of Dr. Wiehe’s study is just not making to the Faroese people.
“What mother would feed her child whale meat if she knew it was killing her?” asked McCormick.
Progress Is Slow
According to Birgith Sloth of the Society for the Conservation of Marine Mammals in Denmark, the dolphin drive photos that are being circulated in the email and on Facebook are actually from the end of 1970s and early 1980s. She says increasing awareness of Dr. Wiehe’s advice has indeed resulted in a significant drop in the numbers of pilot whales caught per year from 2,000 to just a few hundred a year. From August 2007 to January 2009, no whales were taken at all. In 2009, however, three drives took place, with a total kill of 300 pilot whales.
“It is 300 too much, but the islands are moving in the right direction,” writes Sloth in an email. “It will take a while as there has to be a shift in mindset of everyone there, and that takes sometimes a generation.”
Sloth warns that pressuring the Faroese with photos from decades ago is not the way to go.
“Putting a lot of pressure on the islands using totally outdated information can have the opposite effect,” said Sloth. “There are strong, politically-rooted people there who feel that no one from outside should decide what they do.”
Still, there are those who would rather not see any dolphins killed.
“My job and my goal is to avoid cetaceans being killed for unnecessary human use,” said Fisher. “[The Faroese hunt] may be sustainable, but it’s not humane. We’re keeping it constantly under review.”
Others take a more pragmatic approach, saying we should care about dolphins and whales, ”not only because they are charismatic and because they are so much like us as mammals that they really pull at our heartstrings,” said McCormack. “But because, from an ecosystem standpoint, they are a keystone species. As top predators, they are bellwethers of the state of ocean health.”
What You Can Do
Clearly, signing a petition and circulating disturbing photos of the slaughter is as ineffective as inaction. A more effective approach is to help empower those who dedicate their lives to protecting the species.
“If every one of those people who signs that meaningless petition gave $5, that would be a million dollars at least,” says McCormick. “I believe in contributing financially. I give and I give until it hurts, because I know [NGOs] are putting their passion into action. No one gets into this for the money. We feel compelled to do it for our values.”
McCormick suggests donors divvy up their donations to these four organizations: Greenpeace, for their ability to attract public attention to issues; the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW,) for their international presence and savvy leaders; the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, since they are directly involved in the issue; and of course her organization, the American Cetacean Society, for its ability to really target and lobby stakeholders. She also suggests getting on the phone and calling Laurie Fulton, the US Ambassador to Denmark, and telling her directly that you don’t support the Faroe Island dolphin drive and you want it stopped. Her number is (+45) 33 41 71 00.
Also, inspired in part by this article, McCormick is mobilizing students at campuses across the country to work with The Cove’s Ric O’Barry on further raising awareness of the negative health effects of the pilot whale meat and ending the Faroe Island dolphin drive once and for all.
Originally published on Tonic
Photo courtesy of Erik Christensen (cc)
