Animal Planet's new five-part series, "Whale Wars: Viking Shores" follows the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's attempt to bring to an end an ancient tradition practiced in the Faroe Islands called, "the grind," which is a method of killing primarily long and short-finned pilot whales.
Today on Starting Point, two men featured on the show, Captain Fraser Hall and First Mate Peter Hammarstedt, discuss their opposition to this practice and explain why it's significant for the Faroese people.
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As a substance hunter and conservationist I applaud what Paul and the Sea Shepard group has done fighting against Japanese whale poaching, but his/their involvement in the Faroese hunt has shown the Sea Shepard crew to be nothing more than a group of radical environmentalists. Involving themselves in legal hunting (and the cutting of legal commercial fishing nets) suggests that they neither respect the law, nor have a healthy understanding of the earth's abundant natural resources and humanity's stewardship role.
This whale harvest, while startling to those unfamiliar to hunting or even large scale commercial animal slaughter, is as close to the perfect example of the circle of life as I have ever seen. Unlike trophy hunting, these people consume the resource, nothing usable is wasted and they seem to truly respect and appreciate the animal and their traditions. To end the life of a beautiful animal that you actually consume is not even on the same level as barbaric, it is as God designed. It is, as close to perfect as nature intended.
To those who believe that whale harvesting is barbaric and that what Paul & SS are doing in the Faroe Islands is righteous, I would say this: the next time you pick out your steak or chicken from the Costco meat department think about the large scale, commercial beef & chicken slaughter that goes on every day, in every corner of the world. Trust me, there's far more blood in the water from that than a thousand Faroe Island whale hunts.
I will still support Paul & SS in his/their fight against poaching, wherever it occurs, but now that I know, at their core, SS is nothing more than a radical, anti-animal harvest/hunting organization I am more skeptical about about all of their activities.
CR McClintock
Thank goodness for people like Peter Hammarstedt and Fraser Hall – and organizations like Sea Shepherd. They are fighting battles against cruel and ignoble industries in a long war that we cannot afford to lose. Every decent human being should support their efforts and brings these atrocities to an end, once and for all. They have no place in civilized society.
Sea Shepherd are terrorists, they should stay out of the Faroe Islands, they dont belong there
will whale wars viking shores be broadcast in the uk?
I think what Sea Shepherd's doing is great. The shows are very dramatised, but their work is effective and has been instrumental in world conservation. Most arguments for barbaric practices are defences of cultural tradition, but in most cases the reality is that most of what they harvest gets sold outside of the community for great profit. Great work, keep it up!