I recently received a widely-circulated email entitled "World SHAME", illustrating graphically the annual slaughter of Calderon dolphins in the Feroe (sic) Islands.
Though I'd seen this before, the photos still shocked me. Then I noticed errors in the blood-red text. The impassioned author was struggling with a competent grasp of English, writing:
“Denmark is a big shame The sea is stained in red and in the mean while its not because of the climate effects of nature. It's because of the cruelty that the human beings (civilised human) kill hundreds of the famous and intelligent Calderon dolphins. This happens every year in Feroe island in Denmark. In this slaughter the main participants are young teens. WHY? To show that they are adults and mature.... BULLLLsh
In this big celebration, nothing is missing for the fun. Everyone is participating in one way or the other, killing or looking at the cruelty “supporting like a spectator”
Is it necessary to mention that the dolphin calderon, like all the other species of dolphins, it’s near instinction and they get near men to play and interact. In a way of PURE friendship
They don’t die instantly; they are cut 1, 2 or 3 times with thick hocks. And at that time the dolphins produce a grim extremely compatible with the cry of a new born child. But he suffers and there’s no compassion till this sweet being slowly dies in its own blood Its enough!
We will send this mail until this email arrives in any association defending the animals, we won’t only read. That would make us accomplices, viewers.
Take care of the world, it is your home!”
When circulating a petition,
fluency and
accuracy are
vital. Apart from the script making very little sense, the writer has made a number of factual errors:
+ The Faroe Islands (nb: correct spelling), while technically a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, have had virtual autonomy since 1948 and are self-governing in most matters. So this is a Faroese issue, NOT Danish.
+ The butchered creatures are long-finned pilot whales. Some Spanish-speaking countries call them Calderon dolphins, but the Faroese and most of the English-speaking world know them as pilot whales.
+The Faroe Islands are NOT "in Denmark" but actually halfway between Scotland and Iceland.
+The inference that the killing is a rite of passage for young teens is WRONG. The killing is carried out traditionally by men while the children, youths and women watch.
+ Pilot whales are NOT "near instinction"(sic) but are listed in the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species as "Lower Risk".
+ "All the other species of dolphins" are NOT near extinction either, although freshwater species such as the Sth.American pink dolphin and Cambodia's mekong dolphin are in dire (and heavily polluted!) straits.
+ Pilot whales are NOT known to “get near men to play and interact”, but dolphins often do.
+ Pilot whales are not generally regarded as "famous and intelligent", though bottlenosed dolphins are.
Yes, these traditional hunts (or "grindadráp") ARE completely unnecessary, no longer needed to provide food for islanders, do not meet humane slaughter standards at any level, and recent studies show the meat contains PCBs and other toxins. The Faroe Islands’ reputation internationally is tarnished by these hunts. Its government needs to end them permanently, to improve its global image and most importantly to spare hundreds of pilot whales annually from brutal deaths.
Highlighting this email's errors IN NO WAY supports this barbarism (far from it) but the Faroes administration will never take seriously any petition written this way. To be effective,
the message has to be correct!
