Disturbing images showing more than 1400 brutally massacred Dolphins in the Faroe Islands have surfaced, after what is thought to be the largest hunt in recent worldwide history.
The harrowing pictures show what is believed to be around about 1428 white-sided dolphins lying dead in the bay of the Skálafjörður after being forced close to the shore with no chance of escape.
The dolphins were stacked up and distributed around the area, and the pictures taken on September 12 following the hunt show countless dolphins soaked in blood.
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Marine conservation activists and charities have been campaigning against these ‘routine’ massacres for many years and have hit out at the people involved in this large-scale hunt.
Head of charity Sea Shepherd UK Rob Read said that the people involved in the event are using ‘tradition’ to commit these modern-day atrocities.
He said: “This killing is of a whole other scale entirely - it is mind-blowingly unprecedented.
"There is no need for the meat in Faroe Islands nowadays and it shouldn't be happening, never mind in these numbers.
"There were too many to kill humanely, if that's even possible.
"These days it is little more than sport, using tradition as justification, and that's why we campaign against it."
The ‘tradition’ -which is known as ‘Grindadráp’ – is a practice which sees dolphins and whales driven into a bay and forced onto a beach where they are helplessly massacred.
Chief operating officer Read also said these hunts continue because so many people are oblivious to the 'cruel' practice.
He added: “In these killings, no animal is spared - adults, calves, and even pregnant mothers.
"Many people aren't even aware of this practice - it is such a cruel thing to do.
"This is why we will never give up opposing it and we're determined to raise awareness to make change."
Hunts are still known to take place around the world in countries such as Peru, Japan and the Soloman Islands, and they happen every year.
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