The Grind

The waters of the Atlantic. Soaked in the blood of 1000s of pilot whales. To satisfy a nation's wants. A slaughter that is not needed. A slaughter that is horrendously cruel.

I have not known about the Grind for very long, but this is a tradition that dates back hundreds of years. You will probably know about the dolphin slaughters that take place in, Taiji, Japan, and the whaling that takes place annually in the Antarctic, but this slaughter is not widely known by the world, and one that also needs the spotlight, and fast. 

Every year, a small island colony in the north Atlantic carry out a cruel and heartless practice. The Faeroes are a danish colony, and so are part of Europe. But the horrendous slaughter that takes place would make you think that these peaceful people are living in the middle ages. 'The Grind' a slighter of possibly hundreds of pilot whales, and it can take place on any of 22 beaches in the Faeroes. It is almost crueler than the cove, and does not supply a nation with needed food, nor does it boost their economy, and the unfortunate pilot whales to end up trapped, will not continue life in a tank. Every one of the pod members will be slaughtered, for two main reasons.
One is tradition. These are a proud people, not wanting to give up their past.
The second is simply because the Faroese enjoy eating the meat that they steal from the ocean.
Minor reasons are to feel like a man. It seems that the men and teens that carry out this murder feel butch and strong when they kill.

But is it worth wiping out entire families to feel a long gone past? Is really worth slaughtering babies in front of their mothers for you to have one nice meal? Is it right to butcher a small group of friends to feel strong?
The answer is no.
The Faroese think differently though. Their understanding of cetacean minds show that they either have no respect for the animal, or do not want to have respect. They claim that a pilot whale is no more intelligent than a pig. However, there is proof of deep emotions and culture among every species of whale, dolphin and porpoise. Either that information has not reached them, they do not believe it, or they choose not to trust it.
To know that you were killing a 'non-human' person would eventually destroy you.
How these men can kill a screaming calf, and the children and women can stand and watch, feel proud, that a small part of dolphin society is being wiped out forever, is beyond me.
To say that these animals are not intelligent because they have not got flying machines or cities is a lack of respect for me. 10,000 years ago we barely had settlements, never mind aircraft, but the lack of technology some how justifies the slaughter. We would not murder thousands of people on an alien planet simply because they did not have towns and technology, so why is it right here?

The key to stopping the grind is simple. Much like whaling and the cove, we need pressure on the Faroese. If the entire world is protesting, then they can no longer justify their senseless slaughter. The second part is education. if we can teach how amazing the minds of cetaceans are, then we can change the minds and hearts of everyone involved.

“We are fighting the horror of the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. We are opposing the Japanese whale poachers in the Southern Ocean and we are fighting the Faeroese to stop this nightmare called the Grind. This is a global struggle against the last hold-outs of barbarism against cetaceans,” Captain Watson, Sea Shepherd.