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An open letter to the Honourable Bárður á Steig Nielsen, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands

Lisbon, 5^th of January 2022

Sent to info@tinganes.fo

Dear Mr. Steig Nielsen,

I write to you as a Portuguese Marine Biologist who lived his entire childhood in the small town of Cartaxo, in the Ribatejo region, very much the heart of the bullfighting scene in this country. Needless to say, that this activity has been part of Portuguese culture for centuries, indeed millennia, but slowly younger generations are focusing considerable efforts into banning this abominable display of animal cruelty, because culture simply doesn’t justify these unspeakable acts. Nothing indeed does.

As you may have guessed, I started this letter by sharing a situation that is close to my home, which runs parallel to what has come to be known as ‘the grind’, which peaked in mortality last September, when 1428 white-sided dolphins were slaughtered, the next largest being 1200 pilot whales back in 1940[1].

I could go on and on about the reasons why this activity has no place in modern society, but I believe any lucid mind will forego any reasoning when faced with the images of what happened on the 12^th of September 2021.

As a citizen of this beautiful Planet Earth that all of us (nearly) 8 billion souls share, I beg you to put an end to this gruesome practice, and I say this with utmost respect for the culture of your nation, which is as worthy of reverence as any other nation’s.

There are many things that 2022 should bring to us, inhabitants of Planet Earth. Those things are far too numerous to be featured in this letter, so I will focus on two alone:

While I pledge to continue my lifelong efforts to ban the medieval practice of driving metal spikes into the back of bulls for the entertainment of people, I would ask that you reciprocate those efforts with the ban of the bloody images we saw last September. If nothing else, so that my 2 and a half years old baby boy doesn’t grow in a Planet that allows either.

Respectfully yours,

• João Correia, Ph.D., www.lovingtheplanet.org, Member of the Board of Directors | www.apece.pt, Founder and Member of the Board of Directors | www.estm.ipleiria.pt, Professor and Researcher | www.flyingsharks.eu, Founder and General Manager

• Sofia Silva, Sea Shepherd Portugal, Science Coordinator & Board of Directors

• Fernando Reis, Associação Sharks Educational Institute Portugal

• Vanda Andrade, Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém, Instituto Politécnico de Santarém e iMed. UL, Institute for Research on Medicines, Faculty of Pharmacy from Lisbon University
• Ana Pêgo, author of Plasticus Maritimus
• Norberto Amaral, Cultiv
• Paulo Melo, www.estm.ipleiria.pt
• Ana Silva
• Marco Cerqueira, Fish Welfare Inititative
• Pedro Rabaça, History Professor
• Carla Frias, Direcção Geral de Política do Mar
• Helen Sköld, Havets Hus
• Alina Sousa
• Sílvia Jesus
• Jorge Alves
• Andreia Antunes
• Paulo Landeck, Author and Environmentalist
• Sahar Chebanne, MARE Centre
• Kevin Gaines, Sea Dwelling
• Clem Kouijzer & Maureen van der Hijde, 1-2-1 Animal Handling Products
• Ricardo Mendes, Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar
• Maria Fernanda Costa, Museu do Mar Rei D. Carlos
• Henrique Ferreira, Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar
• Joana Ramos
• Luís Santos, Toronto
• Sonnia Bastos

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[1] https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/latest-news/1428-dolphins-killed-faroes/

Source of image: https://www.businessinsider.com/whale-and-dolphin-hunts-in-faroe-islands-photographed-by-campaigners-2017-11

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If you’d like to co-sign this letter, send your name and affiliation to info@jpcorreia.pt, although we encourage you to also send a similar letter/message to the Honourable Bárður á Steig Nielsen ( info@tinganes.fo ), Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands.

…because receiving one letter with 1000 signatures is one thing; receiving 1000 letters, is another.…

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