The First Grind of 2026

Sea Shepherd volunteers were present on location and documented the hunt. Our purpose remains clear: to record the facts, to raise awareness inside the Faroe Islands, and to bring the issue to the attention of the international community, a community that is tied to the Faroe Islands through trade, travel, politics, and shared global responsibility.

Documenting the Grind Is Becoming Increasingly Difficult

Sea Shepherd is committed to working within the boundaries of Faroese law. Our volunteers do not break the law. We operate within the national rules and regulations, and we insist on our legal right to be present and to document what takes place in public.

Yet, increasingly and systematically, those involved in the grind try to block our view, remove us from the scene, intimidate volunteers, and prevent documentation. Volunteers have been bullied, harassed, and obstructed, even when they are acting fully within their rights.

While Sea Shepherd has a generally constructive and honest relationship with the police, individual officers still sometimes fail to respect the rights of observers. Volunteers have been forced to leave public areas, have their pictures taken, show identification, or allow searches of cameras and personal belongings, despite having respected the rules and laws in place.

This raises an obvious question: if the grind is something Faroese whalers are proud of, why is there such a determined effort to prevent people from documenting it?

A tradition that is truly defensible should not require a cover-up.

What the Grind Reveals When It Is Documented

The answer lies in what the documentation reveals.

Every pod killed in a grind contains pregnant females and young juveniles. In almost any other hunting community, these animals would be protected. Pregnant females, unborn young, newborns, and small juveniles would not be considered legitimate targets. But in the Faroese grind, they are driven and killed indiscriminately.

The smallest whales and fetuses are not considered edible. They are described as rubbery and are thrown away. These animals are not counted in the official Faroese kill statistics, which raises serious concerns about the data used by Faroese authorities to claim that the grind can in any way be considered sustainable.

This is one of the most indefensible aspects of the grind. It is also one of the facts Faroese whalers are most determined to keep out of sight.

The Achilles Heel of the Faroese Grind

For years, whalers and defenders of the grind have claimed that they are open to criticism and improvement. But this remains the painful truth they cannot improve away: every grind involves the killing of pregnant females and juveniles.

Instead of acknowledging that this is unacceptable, those defending the practice attempt to hide it.

The May 4th hunt was no exception.

The official number butchered was 125 pilot whales, including adults and approximately 17 juveniles of a certain size. In addition, at least 15 fetuses and very small juveniles were discarded because they were considered inedible. These animals are not included in the official Faroese count.

A few Atlantic white-sided dolphins were also killed during this hunt, but they were not seen at the harbour afterwards. This raises serious questions about whether they were dumped or removed from public view.

Sea Shepherd believes Faroese authorities should provide a full accounting of all animals killed during the hunt, including the juveniles and unborn young."

An Excessive Kill for a Small Population

The grind in Sándavágur also raises major questions about need and distribution.

Based on a conservative estimate, this single hunt produced around 110,000 kg of meat and blubber. The Faroe Islands have a population of approximately 55,000 people, and estimated annual consumption is around 1 kg per capita. That means this one hunt alone produced vastly more whale meat and blubber than can reasonably be justified by regular consumption.

So where is the meat going?

And how can anyone justify killing up to 1,000 pilot whales a year, not counting the fetuses and small juveniles excluded from the official statistics?

Why Were Whales Transported to the Northern Islands?

This question becomes even more important because 6–7 whole pilot whales from the Sándavágur hunt were later transported to Klaksvík, in the northern islands.

This is significant because the local grind foremen in the northern islands have stated that they will not participate in or authorise any whale hunts until the legal case from 2025 is resolved.

That decision has already had a concrete effect: at least 100 pilot whales have not been killed this year as a result.

The Sándavágur hunt did not take place in the northern islands. However, the transport of whole whales to Klaksvík raises questions. It may mean that people from the northern area participated in the hunt in Vágar. Or it may mean that, once again, more whales were killed than were locally needed, and the surplus was distributed around the country, including to an area where the local foremen had paused hunting.

A System Exposing Its Own Contradictions

Either way, the situation exposes a deeper contradiction.

On the one hand, parts of the Faroese whaling system are now acknowledging that serious legal and animal welfare concerns exist. On the other hand, the killing continues elsewhere, producing excessive amounts of meat and blubber, killing pregnant females and juveniles, and excluding discarded unborn and newborn animals from the official statistics.

This is not a transparent, sustainable, or defensible practice.

It is a system under pressure and a system that increasingly relies on obstruction, intimidation, and selective visibility to preserve itself.

Sea Shepherd Will Continue to Document the Truth

Sea Shepherd will continue to work within the boundaries of the law. But we will also continue to insist on our right to be present, to document, and to bring light to what happens during the grind.

Because the truth is simple: if the grind can only survive when cameras are blocked, observers are pushed away, and discarded fetuses are kept out of sight, then it is not a tradition that can withstand scrutiny.

It is a practice that depends on the Faroese community and the rest of the world not seeing the full picture.

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Learn more and support Sea Shepherd's Living Fjords Campaign here: https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/our-campaigns/living-fjords/