Whales surround campaigners

ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said they had encountered as many as 500 pilot whales in an area south of the Faroe Islands.

The group, controversial for its campaigning methods, is in the area to prevent the annual cull of hundreds of pilot whales.

Known as the Grind, the whales have been driven ashore on Faroese beaches for centuries to help feed the local population.

Environmentalists say the practise is outdated, unnecessarily cruel and should be stopped.

Two Sea Shepherd vessels, the Steve Irwin and the Brigitte Bardot, are in Faroese waters with the intention of disrupting the cull.

The organisation’s president Paul Watson said: “We are like aquatic shepherds guarding our flock. We need to keep them away from the vicious hooks and knives of the Faroese butchers.”

Campaigners said the pilot whales had come so close that they could be touched by the crew on board the vessels.

A spokesman said that Sea Shepherd had positioned their ships between the whales and Faroe and were ready to intervene with acoustic devices if necessary to persuade them to divert away from the islands’ shores.

American crewmember Crystal Galbraith said:  “I was amazed at how friendly they were, not afraid of us at all, and so intensely curious. How anyone could greet this friendliness with such horrific violence is unimaginable.”