News
No Dialogue Possible In The Faroe Islands
Thursday, 25 Jun, 2015
Rosie Kunneke, Capt. Alex Cornelissen, Ross McCall and Captain Wyanda Lublink, ready to speak to media in Tórshavn today. Photo: Mark Wendt
Faroese media have flouted an opportunity for open dialogue with representatives of Sea Shepherd in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, today.
Media were invited to a press conference about the organization’s current Pilot Whale Defense Campaign, Operation Sleppid Grindini. Intended speakers were CEO of Sea Shepherd Global, Alex Cornelissen, Campaign Co-Leader, Ross McCall, Land Team Leader, Rosie Kunneke, and Captain of the Brigitte Bardot, Wyanda Lublink.
One journalist from local television network, KVF (Kringvarp Føroya), arrived at the press conference. When offered the chance to speak to each of the representatives about the campaign, the journalist said that he did not have any questions.
Captain Cornelissen has said, “We presented local media with the opportunity for open dialogue with Sea Shepherd. Clearly, our intentions regarding the campaign have been made clear, and there is no requirement to clarify anything further.”
McCall added, “Making space for dialogue has always been of importance to us. The local press decided not to take the open hand, which works for us as now we can get back out into the Island and continue what we came here for.”
For hundreds of years the people of the Danish Faroe Islands have been herding migrating pilot whales from the sea into shallow water and slaughtering them in a practice called the 'grindadráp' or 'grind'.
Sea Shepherd has led the opposition to the mass slaughter of cetaceans in the Faroe Islands since the 1980s.
The Australian-registered Sea Shepherd ship, Brigitte Bardot, arrived in the Faroe Islands last week for Operation Sleppid Grindini. The vessel will be joined by the Sam Simon, which arrived at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands this morning en-route to the Faroe Islands, and by the Bob Barker, which will depart Bremen, Germany, shortly.
The ships are supported by a land-team of volunteers from around the world, dedicated to the on-going protection of the pilot whales of the Faroe Islands.