What is the Grind? Myth vs. Fact
Every year in the Faroe Islands, hundreds—and sometimes more than a thousand—pilot whales and other dolphins are killed in drive hunts known as the Grindadráp, or the Grind. These hunts are not governed by an annual quotas and can take place whenever animals are encountered near the coastline.
When a pod is spotted, speedboats and jetskis drive the animals towards shore and into one of the bays authorized for the hunts. The animals are forced into shallow water or stranded on the beach, where every member of the pod -- including pregnant females and juveniles -- is killed.
Supporters of the Grind describe it as a regulated, sustainable cultural tradition that provides local food and kills animals quickly.
But how well do these claims stand up to the evidence?
Common Myths About the Grind
MYTH: The Grind is necessary to feed the Faroese population.
FACT: Far more whales are killed than are needed to meet current levels of consumption.
There is no question that pilot whales once played an important role in Faroese food security. For generations, whale meat and blubber provided food to communities living on remote islands where other resources could be scarce. But the Faroe Islands of today are very different.
Research cited in the 2026 Case Against the Grind report estimates that consumption fell from 4.4 kg of pilot whale meat per person per year in 1982 to around 1 kg in 2024. Whale meat is increasingly consumed as an occasional or symbolic cultural food rather than relied upon as an everyday source of nutrition.
However, the number of whales being killed has not fallen at the same rate. Between 2020 and 2025, Sea Shepherd recorded an average of 827 pilot whales killed per year. Based on current population and consumption figures, our report estimates that the meat from approximately 55 pilot whales per year would be sufficient to meet present levels of Faroese consumption.
That calculation does not include over 1,700 Atlantic white-sided and bottlenose dolphins killed between 2020 and 2025, despite there being no demonstrated subsistence need for their meat.
There is currently no quota linking the number of animals killed to measured demand, nor comprehensive tracking of how the resulting meat and blubber are distributed and consumed. A practice that produces far more meat than the population consumes can no longer credibly be defended as necessary for food security.
MYTH: The Grind is sustainable because there are plenty of pilot whales.
FACT: A large population estimate does not prove the Grind is sustainable.
The sustainability argument is usually based on estimates of the total number of long-finned pilot whales across a very large area of the North Atlantic. But sustainability cannot be determined simply by comparing the number killed with a broad estimate of the species' abundance.
Scientists still have significant gaps in their understanding of the pilot whales using Faroese waters, including how many distinct populations exist, how they move and interact, and how repeated removal of entire pods affects their long-term survival.
Pilot whales live in complex, multi-generational family groups centered around females. These animals do not simply exist as interchangeable members of one enormous North Atlantic population. Pods share social bonds and knowledge about migration, feeding and survival. Current genetic research suggests there may be distinct populations around the Faroe Islands, making this lack of information particularly important.
During the Grind, an entire family group, or pod, is killed at once, including the pregnant females, nursing mothers, and juveniles that haven't yet reproduced. International whaling management standards recognise the particular importance of protecting calves and females accompanied by calves, precisely because removing reproductive animals affects the future of a population.
Our 2026 report found that official figures account principally for animals taken for consumption and can exclude these juveniles, fetuses and discarded bodies. This matters not only when reporting the true scale of the killing, but when assessing its sustainability. A pregnant whale represents both an adult female and the loss of her unborn calf; removing reproductive females has consequences that extend far beyond a single year's death toll.
A genuinely precautionary approach would require up-to-date population assessments, conservative limits, independent monitoring and a much better understanding of the populations and pods affected by the hunts.
These safeguards do not currently exist.
MYTH: Whales are killed almost instantaneously, so the Grind is humane.
FACT: Scientific evidence raises serious doubts that the killing method produces immediate unconsciousness.
Faroese authorities maintain that the modern killing method used during the Grind results in rapid or near-instantaneous death.
The principal killing tool is the spinal lance, which is inserted behind the whale's blowhole to sever the spinal cord and associated blood vessels. But immobility is not the same thing as unconsciousness.
Research published in Frontiers in Marine Science in 2024 challenged the assumption that severing a cetacean's spinal cord necessarily causes immediate unconsciousness. Unlike terrestrial mammals, cetaceans have specialized blood circulation that may allow blood to continue reaching the brain after the spinal cord has been severed. The result may therefore be paralysis while consciousness continues for an unknown period.
The suffering involved also begins long before the spinal lance is used. Pilot whales and other dolphins are chased by speedboats and jetskis, driven from open water towards an unfamiliar shoreline, separated or compressed into groups and surrounded by loud noises. These highly social animals are then killed alongside members of their own family group.
The scientific concerns about both the chase and the killing method were also highlighted by animal-welfare experts during our 2025 Myth vs Fact webinar.
There are further concerns about oversight. Faroese rules require the person carrying out the killing to check for signs that the animal is dead, including checking for eye movement. However, footage recorded by Sea Shepherd crew demonstrate prolonged killing periods and repeated failures to use the mandatory spinal lance effectively. Footage from a 2026 Grind shows pilot whales killed with knives when the required spinal lances weren't available.
And legal protection has recently become weaker, not stronger. In May 2026, marine mammals killed in the Grind were removed from the scope of the Faroese Animal Welfare law, leaving animals targeted in the hunts outside the general welfare protections applying to other animals.
MYTH: Pilot whale meat is a healthy, sustainable local food.
FACT: Faroese health authorities have warned for decades about contaminants in whale meat and blubber.
Pilot whale meat once contributed significantly to Faroese nutrition, but pollution of the marine environment has fundamentally changed the health implications of eating it.
Because pilot whales are long-lived predators, contaminants including mercury and persistent organic pollutants such as PCBs accumulate in their bodies over time. Faroese medical researchers studying these risks for decades, associated exposure to contaminants found in pilot whales with effects including impaired neurological development and immune function. In 2008 they recommended that the population stop consuming foods derived from pilot whales altogether.
But the Faroese Food and Veterinary Authority subsequently issued different, less restrictive advice, recommending that adults consume no more than one meal of pilot whale meat and blubber per month. Women and girls planning to have children are advised not to eat blubber, while pregnant and breastfeeding women are advised not to eat whale meat at all.
A food that health authorities advise the population to consume only in very limited quantities cannot credibly be presented as an essential everyday source of nutrition. The decline in consumption suggests Faroese people already know that.
MYTH: The Grind represents the Faroese people and their way of life
FACT: Faroese attitudes towards the Grind are more complicated than this suggests.
The Grind is deeply connected to Faroese history and remains important to some people as a symbol of culture, community and national identity. But the Faroese population is not a single voice.
Research discussed during our recent webinar found that 12% of the Faroese population supports ending the Grind, while 71% rarely or never participates in it. Among women, the proportion who rarely or never participate rises to 94%.
Opposition within the islands can also be difficult to express publicly.
The Grind is an emotionally charged issue closely connected with questions of Faroese identity and outside criticism. Faroese people who oppose the hunts may therefore be reluctant to speak publicly for fear of judgement or social isolation.
The campaign to end the Grind should not be framed as a conflict between the Faroese people and the rest of the world. International condemnation that treats an entire population as responsible risks drowning out the very Faroese voices that are questioning whether this practice should continue.
Sea Shepherd's work in the Faroe Islands has therefore increasingly focused not only on documenting the hunts, but on creating dialogue, listening to local perspectives and supporting Faroese people who want to discuss a different future.
MYTH: The Grind should continue because it is a centuries-old tradition.
FACT: Cultural traditions can be respected while their modern impacts are still subject to scrutiny.
The Grind has a long history in the Faroe Islands, and for many Faroese people it remains connected to identity, community and heritage. But recognising the historical importance of a tradition does not require accepting that it must continue indefinitely.
The modern Grind bears little resemblance to a hunt carried out centuries ago. Today's hunts take place in a wealthy society with modern infrastructure and an abundant food supply. Pilot whales are pursued using powered vessels and other modern equipment, while consumption of the resulting meat has fallen dramatically.
The effects of the Grind don't exist in isolation. Pilot whales and other dolphins are migratory wildlife; the health of marine ecosystems is a shared international concern, and the Faroe Islands maintain extensive political and trading relationships with countries that have adopted strong protections for cetaceans, including the UK and the EU.
Cultures constantly decide which traditions they want to carry forward, which they want to change, and which no longer reflect their values. Tradition alone cannot justify the continued killing of whales and dolphins when serious questions remain about animal welfare, sustainability, public health and actual dietary need.
THE GRIND TODAY
The evidence increasingly challenges the arguments used to defend the Grind:
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Pilot whale meat is no longer necessary for Faroese food security.
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Consumption has fallen while the number of animals killed remains disproportionately high.
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Serious questions remain about the sustainability of removing entire family groups without adequate knowledge of the populations affected.
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Pregnant whales and juveniles continue to be killed.
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Scientific research has challenged claims of instantaneous death.
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Faroese health authorities continue to warn people to restrict or avoid eating the resulting meat.
None of this requires dismissing Faroese history or attacking the Faroese people. In fact, doing so would make meaningful change more difficult. Ending the Grind will require international pressure, credible scientific evidence and political action, but it will also require space for people within the Faroe Islands to question whether this tradition still represents the society they want for the future.
Learn how the Stop the Grind Initiative is working to bring an end to the Grind. →