What took place in the Faroe Islands this week is difficult to comprehend on a human level. Reports indicate that more than 700 Atlantic white-sided dolphins were driven onto shore in coordinated drives at Tórshavn, Skálabotnur, and Hvalvík, where they were subsequently killed.
Among those affected were pregnant females and entire pods, all of whom became trapped after being herded into shallow water with no possibility of escape. While the scale of the event is striking, it is the method that has prompted the most concern: a practice carried out in full public view, yet still described by local authorities and tourism officials as tradition.
This situation raises a broader ethical question about the limits of cultural tradition, and whether any practice can be justified when it involves the mass killing of highly sentient marine mammals on this scale in the modern world.
