THE DRIVE FISHERIES FOR SMALL WHALES
IN THE FAEROE ISLANDS AND IN JAPAN ARE
HARVESTING SEAQUAKE-INJURED PODS
AND DON'T KNOW IT!
by Captain David Williams
Deafwhale Society, Inc
PO Box 319, Dumaguete City
6200 Oriental Negros
Philippines
Copyright Notice: The Seaquake Theory to explain why whales mass strand revealed in these pages is the copyrighted intellectual creation of Captain David Williams and took over 30 years to fully develop. As such, this work is fully protected by international copyright laws. Copyright © 1977 thru 2008. Reproduction and use of any part or all of this intellectual creation in any form, including film, is prohibited. In particular, no part of these web pages may be distributed or copied for any commercial purpose, especially for commercial film purposes. No part of Captain David Williams' intellectual property may be reproduced on or transmitted to or stored in any other web site, or in any other form of electronic retrieval system or used in any film; however, you may link to this web site without permission. Requests for any other use should be sent in the first instance to Captain David Williams. Reference this webpage as the source when quoting this article. (Click here to learn the consequence of trying to steal this material)
Archaeological evidence from the early Norse settlement of the Faeroe Islands from 1200 years ago, in the form of pilot whale bones found in household remains, indicates that the pilot whale, Globicephala melas, has long had a central place in the every day life of Faeroe Islanders. The meat and blubber of the pilot whale has provided the islanders with an important part of their staple diet. The blubber, in particular, has been highly valued both as food and for processing into oil, which was used for lighting fuel and other purposes. Parts of the skin of pilot whales were also used for ropes and lines, while stomachs were used as floats, the oesophagus was used for shoes and the penis was dried and cut into strips which were used as sewing thread for skin shoes.
Catch statistics since 1584, unbroken from 1709-today, show an annual average catch of 850 pilot whales. The whales are driven onto the beach with small boats, and killed by cutting down to the major arteries and spinal cord at the neck. The drive fisheries in Japan and in other areas of the world operate under similar circumstance. (click here to read more about drive fisheries).
These pods are more likely seaquake-injured.
Pods of whales and dolphins have been mass stranding on certain beaches around the world since the beginning of recorded history and likely long before. People who lived near the shore in certain areas grew to depended on stranded whales as food. The excitement would build as the pod slowly got closer to the shore. As often as not, the pods would mill around offshore for a day or so and then swim downstream and strand on the beach of some other tribe. Slowly, over many hundreds of years of practice, the locals, like the Faeroese and Japanese fisherman, learn how to row out to meet the pod and position their little boats in a semi-circle behind them and drive them to their own beaches. They never knew why the pods were so easy to encircle with their little boats--most just thought the whales were a gift from God. Indeed, if one believes God controls earthquakes and oceanic currents, then the religious faith of these people is supported by the Seaquake Theory.
Unable and/or afraid to dive and dart under the small boats, seaquake-wounded pods would be easily driven toward the beach. The method varied from area to area. The Faeroe fishermen would toss a special line, with a rock tied to one end, to the side of the pod. They would then pull the rock through the water fast and create a commotion on only one side of the pod. The whales at the side on seeing the splashing would swim away from the disturbance and slowly push their pod mates off in the opposite direction. Thus, the pods were slowly stirred along. The Japanese do something similar by making loud noises on one side of the pod or the other. (link: Conservation groups call for an end to Faeroe Island whale hunt.
Folks all over the world criticize Japanese and Faeroe Island fisherman for harvesting pods of seismically-injured whales and dolphins, but, in view with the seaquake theory, the practice of driving pods ashore with small boats appears to be the right thing to do.
What is really amazing here is that these fisherman look upon driving and slaughtering the whales as a macho thing to do. They simply can not imagine that for hundreds of years they have been driving injured whales. It's just too much for their macho pride to deal with.