CONTENT WARNING: IMAGES AND VIDEO CONTAIN DISTRESSING SCENES
Horrific footage has been captured following an annual whale hunt, showing dozens of carcasses of dead whales.
Sidney Haugen, an activist, captured the traumatic footage showing the mangled bodies of whales being dumped into the ocean, turning the water red.
Sharing the footage on Instagram (@seashepherd ), Sidney has gained over 1.9m views in an attempt to raise awareness and stop the hunt.
Whaling is part of a cultural tradition that occurs yearly on the island of Vágseiði in the Faroe Islands, Denmark, where approximately 800 pilot whales are killed yearly.
“There is always a lot of adrenaline involved when getting footage like this, and the camera works like a barrier between me and the dumping happening in front of me,” the 26-year-old, from Oslo, Norway, told http://NeedToKnow.co.uk.
“This makes it so the experience of capturing the footage isn’t as strong as actually seeing the footage back later.”
Traditionally called The Grindadráp, which translates to Faroese Dolphin Hunt, the practice started in 1584 to feed the villagers, reports http://Whaling.fo .
Used for protein, iron and vitamins, the meat and blubber are a delicacy for locals, despite the high levels of mercury in the meat, which is monitored closely.
According to PETA, the whales are driven into the bay before metal hooks are inserted into the blowhole and their spinal cords are cut using a spear or knife.
Sidney added: “Two villages, Vágur and Hvalba, dispose of the remains by dumping them off cliffs.
“I sat on a cliff and waited and after one night in the car until the trucks came and dumped the remains off the cliff.”
Sharing the horrific clip on Instagram, Sidne quickly gained over 70,000 likes and thousands of comments from horrified viewers.
One person wrote: “This footage is the most atrocious thing I’ve ever seen. It’s devastating and sickening. This is how humans treat some of the most magical beings on this planet.”
Another viewer added: “This just breaks my heart… no purpose for their deaths just senseless killings , this has got to stop.”
“This is a crime, it has to STOP,” someone else said.
“Murder outrage – humans are so cruel!!!!! STOP THE GRIND!!!!!” said one viewer.
Another person wrote: “If it was truly food supply there wouldn’t be this much waste. They simply do it for sport and call it cultural tradition for food.”
ENDS
