Unfortunately this is one adventure I do not support. The Faroe Island's government supports the inhumane slaughter of thousands of whales and dolphins every year through The Grind. Animal rights campaigners have called for people to boycott the islands to put pressure on the government to stop this barbaric and outdated practice which is done in the name of 'tradition'. If you've never seen the hunt in practice please have a look online. I love your content usually but not this. I expect i will receive a lot of hate for posting this but its important.
Hi Liv thank you for your comment! Hopefully, you don't receive any negativity because of this; we always want our channels to be a safe place to leave comments. We are 100% aware of the Grind even before visiting the islands and it was a difficult decision for us to actually visit the islands because of the whale hunts. We decided to visit because we wanted to learn more, and often that is best done by visiting somewhere and speaking to the locals. We actually covered the Grind in our recent website article. www.findingouradventure.com/travel-diaries/one-week-road-trip-itinerary-in-the-faroe-islands-a-guide-to-island-hopping I wanted to reply to a few of your points and I hope it doesn't come across as dismissive of your valid points but from a place of experience having now been to the islands. While I agree that the Grind is now an outdated practice and should be banned, in reality, it is a little more complicated than that, although it shouldn't be. The Faroe Islands do not actually hunt whales (As far as we are aware). They currently only hunt dolphins, Pilot whales are actually dolphins and I believe they are the second largest dolphin behind the Orca. The Faroe Islands also do not hunt for commercial purposes. The grind is shared between all the communities and everyone is given a percentage to survive on. This traditionally happened because of the lack of good land to grow anything else. This is now not the case and sheep farming is taking over leading to a decline in the Grind. Other countries such as Iceland, Norway and Japan do hunt for commercial purposes which in my view is even worse because they are hunting whales purely for profit. Yet these countries are not boycotted or are not targeted by campaigners as heavily as the Faroe Islands. Before visiting the Faroe Islands we didn't even know that Norway did commercial whaling to sell to Japan! We did spend time on the Islands looking in supermarkets and restaurants to see if anywhere was selling Whale (Dolphin) meat but couldn't actually find it anywhere. This has given us hope that the Grind is still a non-commercial activity. The calls to boycott the islands have not actually had a negative effect on the Grind and in reality, having tourists visiting the island who are booking marine wildlife spotting trips is having a much more positive effect. Many islanders now are not participating or even accepting their share of the Grind. It has become less popular and like most things it won't stop overnight but there are positive steps towards the Grind ending. We do not in any way condone the hunting of whales and dolphins but if we decided not to travel anywhere because of the cultural practices that were happening then we wouldn't be leaving our back garden and learning about the world we live in. Here in the UK thousands of wild sea birds are hunted and killed every year in Scotland. We also disagree with foie gras in France and many other countries that have practices that we consider cruel and inhumane. All countries can and should do better to protect wildlife and the world that we live in. Before visiting the Islands we were very black and white with our views of the grind and while we do not know the potentially devastating effects of wiping out entire pods, we do now have a greater understanding of why it is done and also the hope that such practises are coming to an end. I hope that helps shed some light on our experience of the Grind in the Faroe Islands. Thanks so much for supporting our channel even if you cannot support this series.
Thank you for such a well thought out and balanced response. I appreciate you taking the time to address my concerns and I will look further into some of the points you’ve made. You say you spoke to locals while you were there, it would be great to see some of that featured in your videos, not just so you don’t get people like me commenting but also so that awareness is raised which may help stop the slaughter in the long run. Wish you both all the best in the future.
@@liv_in_cornwall the dinner we spent with a local family and also the owners of the hotels we stayed at is where we had most of our conversations and we didn’t feel comfortable asking them to be on camera, nor do I imagine they would feel comfortable talking on camera about it as it’s a highly controversial topic even in the Faroe Islands. I’m glad we could shed some light on the situation though. 😊 I do think naturally the Grind will die out or at least become very small because it is a non commercial practice and less people are now involved or eating the meat. I do feel the commercial whaling of Iceland, Norway and Japan are a far bigger issue though.
Now THAT's an Adventure! - spectacular stark beautiful Faroe scenery; the fells are the greenest greens, the seas are the darkest blues, and the whispy low clouds are so atmospheric Interesting about the all the road tunnels - if you go to the fjord lands in Norway there are also literally countless tunnels on your journeys, with coloured lights every few km to stop you from getting sleepy, and every time you come out into the light it's a "wow" moment at the sudden sight of the beautiful views. (So you encountered the famous ghost motorcyclist of Faroe in the tunnels?! Lucky you!) The hotel looked nice & cosy (I'd be enjoying the free baked goods too, Johnny) and the Faroese food in the restaurant looked lovely; Hannah's expression tasting the sea urchin was 👌 😆. (I imagined they used the helicopter once a year to transport a giant turnip the size of a car, and winch it down to the restaurant ☺️) Yeah that sea looked cold, Gulf Stream or not - well done for trying👏 Really lovely and interesting video. Looking forward to part 2 👍
Hi Hanna and Johnnie. The islands looked lovely beautiful views but it did look freezing. Very relaxing and peaceful away from the world and every day life.
I never watch these personal vlogs (I'm too busy touring myself) but I read your excellent resource of '31 Things to Know...' from simply Googling Faroe Islands which then led me to this video. I wanted to thank you both for making such detailed and genuine video content, I particularly loved the content on the drives themselves but also commend you fir being so discreet and respectful when taking video footage in public places. I'm going to take a look at your other videos :)
Hey thank you so much for your lovely comment! We are really happy you enjoyed it :) We hope our blog articles about the Faroe Islands have helped you plan the best adventure there :)
Oddly enough the Scottish Islands look similar. Big mountains and gorgeous. Planning a trip along that section down the line. Something you should consider with the van. I believe it's the outer hebrides.
Yes exactly we felt it was very similar to some of the Scottish islands. We have actually done a few trips to the Scottish island including some in our van 🙌 The beaches are more beautiful in the Scottish islands though.
Unfortunately this is one adventure I do not support. The Faroe Island's government supports the inhumane slaughter of thousands of whales and dolphins every year through The Grind. Animal rights campaigners have called for people to boycott the islands to put pressure on the government to stop this barbaric and outdated practice which is done in the name of 'tradition'. If you've never seen the hunt in practice please have a look online. I love your content usually but not this. I expect i will receive a lot of hate for posting this but its important.
Hi Liv thank you for your comment! Hopefully, you don't receive any negativity because of this; we always want our channels to be a safe place to leave comments. We are 100% aware of the Grind even before visiting the islands and it was a difficult decision for us to actually visit the islands because of the whale hunts. We decided to visit because we wanted to learn more, and often that is best done by visiting somewhere and speaking to the locals. We actually covered the Grind in our recent website article.
www.findingouradventure.com/travel-diaries/one-week-road-trip-itinerary-in-the-faroe-islands-a-guide-to-island-hopping
I wanted to reply to a few of your points and I hope it doesn't come across as dismissive of your valid points but from a place of experience having now been to the islands. While I agree that the Grind is now an outdated practice and should be banned, in reality, it is a little more complicated than that, although it shouldn't be.
The Faroe Islands do not actually hunt whales (As far as we are aware). They currently only hunt dolphins, Pilot whales are actually dolphins and I believe they are the second largest dolphin behind the Orca. The Faroe Islands also do not hunt for commercial purposes. The grind is shared between all the communities and everyone is given a percentage to survive on. This traditionally happened because of the lack of good land to grow anything else. This is now not the case and sheep farming is taking over leading to a decline in the Grind.
Other countries such as Iceland, Norway and Japan do hunt for commercial purposes which in my view is even worse because they are hunting whales purely for profit. Yet these countries are not boycotted or are not targeted by campaigners as heavily as the Faroe Islands. Before visiting the Faroe Islands we didn't even know that Norway did commercial whaling to sell to Japan!
We did spend time on the Islands looking in supermarkets and restaurants to see if anywhere was selling Whale (Dolphin) meat but couldn't actually find it anywhere. This has given us hope that the Grind is still a non-commercial activity.
The calls to boycott the islands have not actually had a negative effect on the Grind and in reality, having tourists visiting the island who are booking marine wildlife spotting trips is having a much more positive effect.
Many islanders now are not participating or even accepting their share of the Grind. It has become less popular and like most things it won't stop overnight but there are positive steps towards the Grind ending.
We do not in any way condone the hunting of whales and dolphins but if we decided not to travel anywhere because of the cultural practices that were happening then we wouldn't be leaving our back garden and learning about the world we live in. Here in the UK thousands of wild sea birds are hunted and killed every year in Scotland. We also disagree with foie gras in France and many other countries that have practices that we consider cruel and inhumane. All countries can and should do better to protect wildlife and the world that we live in.
Before visiting the Islands we were very black and white with our views of the grind and while we do not know the potentially devastating effects of wiping out entire pods, we do now have a greater understanding of why it is done and also the hope that such practises are coming to an end.
I hope that helps shed some light on our experience of the Grind in the Faroe Islands. Thanks so much for supporting our channel even if you cannot support this series.
Thank you for such a well thought out and balanced response. I appreciate you taking the time to address my concerns and I will look further into some of the points you’ve made. You say you spoke to locals while you were there, it would be great to see some of that featured in your videos, not just so you don’t get people like me commenting but also so that awareness is raised which may help stop the slaughter in the long run. Wish you both all the best in the future.
@@liv_in_cornwall the dinner we spent with a local family and also the owners of the hotels we stayed at is where we had most of our conversations and we didn’t feel comfortable asking them to be on camera, nor do I imagine they would feel comfortable talking on camera about it as it’s a highly controversial topic even in the Faroe Islands. I’m glad we could shed some light on the situation though. 😊 I do think naturally the Grind will die out or at least become very small because it is a non commercial practice and less people are now involved or eating the meat. I do feel the commercial whaling of Iceland, Norway and Japan are a far bigger issue though.
Now THAT's an Adventure! - spectacular stark beautiful Faroe scenery; the fells are the greenest greens, the seas are the darkest blues, and the whispy low clouds are so atmospheric
Interesting about the all the road tunnels - if you go to the fjord lands in Norway there are also literally countless tunnels on your journeys, with coloured lights every few km to stop you from getting sleepy, and every time you come out into the light it's a "wow" moment at the sudden sight of the beautiful views.
(So you encountered the famous ghost motorcyclist of Faroe in the tunnels?! Lucky you!)
The hotel looked nice & cosy (I'd be enjoying the free baked goods too, Johnny) and the Faroese food in the restaurant looked lovely; Hannah's expression tasting the sea urchin was 👌 😆. (I imagined they used the helicopter once a year to transport a giant turnip the size of a car, and winch it down to the restaurant ☺️)
Yeah that sea looked cold, Gulf Stream or not - well done for trying👏
Really lovely and interesting video. Looking forward to part 2 👍
The ghost motorcycle was the highlight of our trip 😂
Nice Faroe Islands!! Hope to see some of the amazing bridges connecting these islands.
It’s mostly tunnels and ferries that connect the islands.
Hi Hanna and Johnnie. The islands looked lovely beautiful views but it did look freezing. Very relaxing and peaceful away from the world and every day life.
Yeah we totally missed out on the lovely warm weather back in the UK! Thanks for watching and hope you had a great week!
I never watch these personal vlogs (I'm too busy touring myself) but I read your excellent resource of '31 Things to Know...' from simply Googling Faroe Islands which then led me to this video. I wanted to thank you both for making such detailed and genuine video content, I particularly loved the content on the drives themselves but also commend you fir being so discreet and respectful when taking video footage in public places. I'm going to take a look at your other videos :)
Hey thank you so much for your lovely comment! We are really happy you enjoyed it :) We hope our blog articles about the Faroe Islands have helped you plan the best adventure there :)
Love the houses ❤
They are so cool!
Oddly enough the Scottish Islands look similar. Big mountains and gorgeous. Planning a trip along that section down the line. Something you should consider with the van. I believe it's the outer hebrides.
Yes exactly we felt it was very similar to some of the Scottish islands. We have actually done a few trips to the Scottish island including some in our van 🙌 The beaches are more beautiful in the Scottish islands though.
@@findingouradventure_ could you give me some episode numbers and I'll watch them? Thanks
Rubbish summer is right... In Ireland too.
😞
Sounds like Ireland climate wise 😂
It was very similar!