Cruise Ship Passengers Witness Dozens of Whales Being Killed
Several Ambassador Cruise Lines passengers recently witnessed a disturbing sight: Dozens of whales being slaughtered.
Over 1,000 of its customers were on one of their ships while it arrived at port in the middle of a whale hunt, where dozens of the marine mammals were openly being killed, according to Yahoo News Australia—which also published graphic photos of the incident.
Ambassador Cruise Lines confirmed on Thursday, July 13, that the arrival of their vessel Ambition in Torshavn in the Faroe Islands—located between Scotland, Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic region—“coincided with the culmination of a hunt of 40+ pilot whales in the port area.”
Following the occurrence, the company issued an apology to its passengers, noting they were "incredibly disappointed" about the timing of the ordeal coinciding with the time that the ship was in port.
1. Ambassador can confirm that the arrival of Ambition in Torshavn in the Faroe Islands today coincided with the culmination of a hunt of 40+pilot whales in the port area. We were incredibly disappointed that this hunt occurred at the time that our ship was in port.
— ambassadorcruiseline (@ambassadorcruis) July 10, 2023
The cruise line's statement also added: “We strongly object to this outdated practice, and have been working with our partner, ORCA, a charity dedicated to studying and protecting whales, dolphins and porpoises in UK and European waters, to encourage change since 2021.”
In their apology, Ambassador expressed that sustainability is one of the cruise line’s “core values,” and that the company fully understands that “witnessing this local event would have been distressing for the majority of guests onboard. Accordingly, we would like to sincerely apologise to them for any undue upset.”
“We are dedicated to supporting ORCA in their endeavours to collect data and to monitor whales and dolphins," the cruise line's CEO Christian Verhounig communicated in the statement, adding, “We continue to educate our guests and crew not to buy or eat any whale or dolphin meat and stand against any profiteering from commercial whaling and dolphin hunts.”
However, no remorse was shown in regards to the long-standing practice, as it was communicated by the Faroe Islands government that whale hunting has long been commonplace in the region.
“As has been the case for centuries, whaling still occurs in the Faroe Islands today,” a statement from the government of the estimated 53,000 people on the island said, explaining its history of whaling. “The Faroese have eaten pilot whale meat and blubber since they first settled the islands over a millenia ago. Today, as in times past, the whale drive is a community activity open to all, while also well organised on a community level and regulated by national laws.”
The Faroe Islands government continued to explain that “records of all pilot whale hunts have been kept since 1584 and the practice is deemed sustainable, as there are an estimated 778,000 whales in the eastern North Atlantic region."
They insisted that, essentially, the fraction they slaughter is minuscule in comparison to the existing population of species. “Approximately 100,000 swim close to the Faroe Islands, and the Faroese hunt on average 800 pilot whales annually,” the response statement read.
While the practice is largely opposed by international animal rights organizations, locals see the importance in upholding the bloody tradition, which helps them in sourcing their own, natural food.
“We are very proud of this practice and we will continue as long as we decide,” Faroese whale expert Bjarni Mikkelsen told Yahoo in May.
This year alone, the islands have reportedly registered 646 whale killings, including the 78 from Sunday that passengers aboard the Ambition ship were privy to witnessing.
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