Passengers aboard a luxury cruise ship watched in horror on Sunday as their ship docked on a small island where locals obtained knives and metal rods to kill wild dolphins as part of a centuries-old tradition of mass hunting.
The North Atlantic off the Faroe Islands was red with the blood of the 78 longfin pilots hunted by people in the island capital of Torshavn, Yahoo News Australia reported.
As the Faroese tradition of grindadráp took place on a Sunday, passengers aboard the docked Ambassador Cruise Line ship were horrified to see locals gathering food for hundreds of years.
The UK cruise ship operator has since apologized on Twitternoting that they were “disenchanted that this hunt took place while our ship was in port.”
“We strongly oppose this antiquated practice,” the cruise operator added, referring to a practice of mass hunting that has long caused outrage amongst environmentalists.
Warning: graphic images
Grindadráp, or grind for brief, takes place every summer and involves the mass killing of marine mammals corresponding to the long-finned whale – which despite its name is definitely a dolphin.
Photos from the event showed dolphins of all ages drenched in blood on the shore and stuffed into containers. The boys leaving the scene were photographed bleeding and carrying knives.
Boat hunters began grazing the dolphins around 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Soon after, locals on the shore took out knives to start hunting the animals, Yahoo witnesses said.
Based on witnesses, all marine mammals were killed inside 20 minutes.
Although international animal rights organizations largely oppose this practice, locals recognize the importance of sourcing their very own natural food.
“We’re very proud of this practice and can proceed to accomplish that for so long as we decide” Faroese whale expert Bjarni Mikkelsen told Yahoo in May.
The British cruise ship has received mixed reactions to its apology to stunned passengers, with some criticizing the operator for its criticism of local tradition, while others have called for a whole boycott of the island.
“You probably did something unforgivable – a guest spat in the host’s face,” one person commented in response to the apology.
“In the event you don’t care about our culture or way of life, why do you come to our islands in any respect?” asked one other.
The cruise line says a boycott of the island wouldn’t change local attitudes about the mass killing of marine mammals.
The Faroe Islands have been a semi-autonomous region since 1948 and will not be part of the European Union, which allows the tradition of whaling to proceed without restrictions.