Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Uncivilized Behavior in a "Civilized" World: Grindadrap

The human species can hardly call itself civilized after some members have been caught in the act of mercilessly slaughtering Calderon whales in the Faroe Islands, a province of Denmark. This stupid, barbaric tradition claims to be a necessary event staged by the Faroese people for the purpose of supplying food. Hardly do the Faroese, who have one of the highest standards of living in the European world, need to kill hundreds and hundreds of these whales for the purpose of machissmo display for the women and putting food on the table, especially when scientists have already warned them that the whale blubber is loaded with PCB's, mercury, and other environmental toxins. In fact, after the slaughter, most of the whales rot on the beach because so many are killed and not used at all for food. It's a disgusting site.
The photos of this unholy massacre will just make you sick--if you dare to look. The social, intelligent animals are herded into a shallow bay and are gaffed, their spinal columns slit, and let to bleed out. Pictures of this show the entire bay red with blood. Recently the Faorese have developed a new weapon for this battle against these innocent creatures: they put a hook down into the airsac through the whale's blowhole--all in order to hold down the creature as men knife the spine and main arteries.
This is a tradition originating from hundreds of years ago when the islanders actually needed the animal meat to survive. That is not the case today. And if these whales' bodies were really needed to provide subsistence, the barbaric method of execution far exceeds what is necessary to cause the animals' deaths.
I, along with civilized persons and conservationists national and international, are appalled by the photos of the slaughter. My suggestion is that when this event is imminent, people from around the globe get in their boats, yachts, sailing ships, canoes, rafts and dugouts, gather at the scene in the Faroe Islands, and defend these poor animals. And in defending these creatures, we will also be defending the human race and the possibility that we can, indeed, be humane, compassionate beings.
Dear Goddess--what have we become.

No comments:

Post a Comment