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A Salute to the Volunteers in the Faroe Islands
A Salute to the Volunteers in the Faroe Islands
14 August 2014
From Captain Paul Watson
To the wonderful men and women on the ground and on the water in the Faroe Islands.
Yesterday a pod of over 100 pilot whales was spotted by Faroese whalers. Their attempts to drive the whales to shore failed. It was a very intense day for Sea Shepherd Grindstop volunteers and the closest day yet to a confrontation with the whalers, the Danish Navy and the Faroese police.
For sixty-six days, volunteers from around the world have been in the Faroe Islands. They have been standing watch from vantage points all over the islands. They have been patrolling the fjords, bays and the open sea in small boats. They have been on the streets and in the countryside sometimes dealing with hostility and sometimes being greeted politely and with support.
They are learning a great deal and many have been happy to find sympathetic Faroese who have been friendly and helpful.
They have discovered that the Faroe Islands are like everywhere else one may go. There are greedy and hostile people and there are kind and helpful people. There are people who regard the whales as a commodity to be exploited and other people that sincerely appreciate the beauty and the importance of whales being kept alive.
The volunteers who have come to the Faroes this summer are unique in many ways. They come at their own expense, taking time off from their jobs and families. I think it takes courage to come to a foreign country and to oppose a “violent and traditional” practice with the expectation of hostility and the uncertainty of how you will be received. It takes dedication and it requires sacrifice, to pay for their own participation, their travel, their food and board.
They have come to the Faroe Islands as advocates of non-violence and they have come out of respect for the whales and for life.
Sea Shepherd volunteers are not professionals. They are ordinary men and women from all different walks of life united by the fact that they are compassionate and they want to save lives and protect diversity in our oceans
They are not anti-Faroese nor anti-Danish. They are anti-killing. They have come to protect the whales with no other agenda.
For those Danes who say that Denmark is not involved, I have to say that is simply not true. I believe that the majority of Danes oppose the killing of whales but the government does not represent that viewpoint. Denmark subsidizes a protectorate that kills whales in violation of European Union laws. Denmark is providing special forces to defend the whale-killing and with Danish Naval vessels on site it is very difficult for Denmark to say they are not involved.
They have come from 30 nations: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, the United States and Wales.
Some of the whalers have told us that the Grind will never end and that they will never stop killing whales.
Our answer to that is that we will never stop opposing it and I have absolute faith that the powers of kindness, empathy and compassion, driven by courage, passion and imagination will eventually triumph over the darkness of a practice that inflicts agonizing death and barbaric cruelty, desensitizing the hearts and souls of those who indulge in such a perversity, as they wade through blood and gore, driven by a lust to kill and an unhealthy appetite for methyl-mercury tainted black meat.
A Salute to the Volunteers in the Faroe Islands
A Salute to the Volunteers in the Faroe Islands
14 August 2014
From Captain Paul Watson
To the wonderful men and women on the ground and on the water in the Faroe Islands.
Yesterday a pod of over 100 pilot whales was spotted by Faroese whalers. Their attempts to drive the whales to shore failed. It was a very intense day for Sea Shepherd Grindstop volunteers and the closest day yet to a confrontation with the whalers, the Danish Navy and the Faroese police.
For sixty-six days, volunteers from around the world have been in the Faroe Islands. They have been standing watch from vantage points all over the islands. They have been patrolling the fjords, bays and the open sea in small boats. They have been on the streets and in the countryside sometimes dealing with hostility and sometimes being greeted politely and with support.
They are learning a great deal and many have been happy to find sympathetic Faroese who have been friendly and helpful.
They have discovered that the Faroe Islands are like everywhere else one may go. There are greedy and hostile people and there are kind and helpful people. There are people who regard the whales as a commodity to be exploited and other people that sincerely appreciate the beauty and the importance of whales being kept alive.
The volunteers who have come to the Faroes this summer are unique in many ways. They come at their own expense, taking time off from their jobs and families. I think it takes courage to come to a foreign country and to oppose a “violent and traditional” practice with the expectation of hostility and the uncertainty of how you will be received. It takes dedication and it requires sacrifice, to pay for their own participation, their travel, their food and board.
They have come to the Faroe Islands as advocates of non-violence and they have come out of respect for the whales and for life.
Sea Shepherd volunteers are not professionals. They are ordinary men and women from all different walks of life united by the fact that they are compassionate and they want to save lives and protect diversity in our oceans
They are not anti-Faroese nor anti-Danish. They are anti-killing. They have come to protect the whales with no other agenda.
For those Danes who say that Denmark is not involved, I have to say that is simply not true. I believe that the majority of Danes oppose the killing of whales but the government does not represent that viewpoint. Denmark subsidizes a protectorate that kills whales in violation of European Union laws. Denmark is providing special forces to defend the whale-killing and with Danish Naval vessels on site it is very difficult for Denmark to say they are not involved.
They have come from 30 nations: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, the United States and Wales.
Some of the whalers have told us that the Grind will never end and that they will never stop killing whales.
Our answer to that is that we will never stop opposing it and I have absolute faith that the powers of kindness, empathy and compassion, driven by courage, passion and imagination will eventually triumph over the darkness of a practice that inflicts agonizing death and barbaric cruelty, desensitizing the hearts and souls of those who indulge in such a perversity, as they wade through blood and gore, driven by a lust to kill and an unhealthy appetite for methyl-mercury tainted black meat.