Did this really happen in Denmark part II
November 13, 2008 by shenmue7754
Filed under General Information
I forwarded the email to my students and one of them (from Germany) replied:
Hello Honey,
yes, this is sad!
But I think there is something wrong with the message.
Faroe Island is an autonomous province of Denmark.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroe_Islands )
I’ve attached you a PDF Document from google maps.
I think this island is nearer Norway, and Norway is known for disagreeing to the international agreement against whaling.
As you can see, this island is far away from all of the other continents.
Yes, it’s bad, that they are hunting whales and kill them in that way, but I think you must have a look to the whole situation of that island.
They live from the whales and fish, they are hunting and they have no other industry.
Another thing is, that you didn’t know how old these photos are…
warm regards
Birger
I believe forwarded emails are one way of informing people and another way of making things clearer.
I googled the Faroe islands and this is what I got:
They have been an autonomous province of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948. The Faroese have, over the years, taken control of most matters except defence (though they have a native coast guard), foreign affairs and the legal system. These three areas are the responsibility of Denmark.
So I think this Denmark can still be held responsable….
Thanks Leomar!
The event is called grindadráp.
More details on Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_the_Faroe_Islands
Pavan
Whether or not you eat meat, every human directly impacts sustainable wildlife habitats of the planet. The agricultural industry, and the vast and expanding destruction of wildlife habitats through agriculture, that even vegetarians depend on, harms native wildlife and the sustainability of the planet as a whole. If you condemn harvesting of wildlife, then you are supporting the idea that continuing devastation and conversion of wildlife habitats into unnatural agricultural areas is better. By its very nature, wildlife harvesting depends on the continuing existence of extensive wildlife ecosystems. The fact that such a local harvest in the Faroe Island has been sustainable, speaks to the conservation of the dolphins’ habitat in the North Atlantic, in spite of the devastation caused to vast Atlantic areas to the south caused by the big international fishing industry.
Look at these pictures, and ignore the romanticized emotinal words in the captions… look and really see what is there . … Local people working by hand, taking risks of their own lives and limbs. Small local boats that won’t destroy the habitats that the dolphins depend upon to survive as a species. A localized bay where the impact on the overall population of dolphins can be contained and minimized. A local culture maintaining their way of life despite the hardship of their environment and the pressures from righteous external groups. A local culture that consumes what they harvest, but are contaminated with mercury and other chemicals from urbanized lifestyle across the planet through ocean and atmospheric currents. (Faroese have 10 times the levels of mercury compared to Norwegians!!! And the mercury does not come from the Faroes.)
The first word is “Denmark”… The word is probably used of upset fellow Europeans, but this is not within the Baltic waters of Denmark… It is in the Faroe Islands in the north Atlantic. The wording of all the captions are meant to inflame emotions. Very few facts are given.
The harvesting may be done perhaps more efficiently, but a cow, a chicken or a pig does not die instantly despite the very controlled conditions of their slaughter for our urban dinner plates. The lives of such domesticated animals are not ones of comfort or freedom, unlike most wildlife. Then there are the feed yards for final fattening, and the long journeys on transports to slaughter houses that livestock endure. If we are out-raged by the treatment of animals, then perhaps we should be more active in cleaning up our own backyards rather than condemning cultures that we don’t know or understand.
Such propaganda is usually promoted by urbanized peoples who apparently believe that their way of life is somehow environmentally more sustainable or at least more righteous. In reality, urbanized lifestyles undoubtedly have a much greater impact on the world’s environment than do most indigenous cultures living in rural and remote regions of the world using the resources that they have at hand.
How can urban peoples put themselves on some sort of pedestal as though they are better environmental citizens than local whale and dolphin hunters (industrialized hunting is a different matter and potentially unsustainable)? Have rural and remote peoples come into our urban culture and demanded that we abandon our unsustainable lifestyles? When will the cities tear up the asphalt and manicured lawns and flower gardens, and allow indigenous plants and wildlife to return and live with us? When will the livestock, poultry and vegetables that cities depend on, come sustainably from within 200 km of each city? The fossil fuels, plastics and other highly processed goods needed to maintain urban ways of life do most of the environmental damage to this planet.
Local people usually harvest wildlife in sustainable ways because their cultures depend on it.. Harvesting of large populations of whales and dolphins can be sustainable no matter how red the water may be for a short time. When wildlife are harvested sustainably, their habitats can not be paved over, dragged twith nets to remove everything, or treated with unending volumes of fertilizers and other chemicals that contaminate the environments. Synthetic and agricultural products ensures that, to varying degrees, wildlife habitats have been lost in exchange. Sustainable wildlife harvesting ensures that these habitats has not been lost. In the Arctic and sub-Arctic, the chemicals that contaminate and harm wildlife, and the peoples that depend on the wildlife, come from southern urban lifestyles, not locally.
The EU recently prohibited the importation of seal skins, but for what reason?? Beacuse they are cute?? The Inuit of the Arctic have lived sustainably on local wildlife for thousands of years. Seals are one of their stable food items. Sustainable vegetables can not grow in the Arctic. Seals and other native wildlife have sustained the Inuit for millennial, and they continue to do so. Despite the EU ban, Inuit will continue to eat seal meat, but they need more seals for food than for skins. So now the EU ban just deprives the Inuit hunter, who works under the worst conditions in the world while trying to support her/his family, from a bit of cash that might make their lives more pleasant, and a bit closer to the comforts that we take for granted.
Please think twice before supporting this one sided condemnation of the Faroese. Instead go to the Faroe Islands sometime, stay a while (maybe for a winter to see it at it’s toughest), meet local people, and try to understand their ways of life, and then decide if your way of life is sufficiently better that you should throw stones at them. Maybe we should all hope that rural and indigenous peoples don’t start throwing stones at the urban ways of life, that way of life may be built from glass!!!