Source: Whales And Whaling - In The Faroe Islands, published by The Faroe Islands Department of Fisheries, 1993

Pilot whaling through the centuries
- an age-old catch for food

Historical evidence tells us that pilot whales have been driven and killed for their rich meat and blubber by coastal communities all around the North Atlantic and farther afield from the very earliest times.

In Iceland, Shetland, and Norway, for example, pilot whales used to be herded into bays in basically the same way as is still done in the Faroe Island today. In Shetland, where pilot whaling survived until the early part of this century, the blubber was used commercially for its oil, but the meat was almost never eaten.

It is most likely that the first Norse settlers who came to the Faroe Islands brought with them some knowledge of whale driving techniques from the west coast of Norway. Whale bone finds at Viking Age archeaological excavation sites suggest that the pilot whale was already then a part of the diet of the Faroe Islanders. A legal document for the Faroes from 1298 outlines rights to whales which are both driven in, and which strand themselves.

Most written sources since the 16th century describing life in the Faroe Islands mention pilot whaling as a typical element of traditional Faroese culture, and provide a valuable record of various cultural aspects of the hunt which no longer survive in modern pilot whaling.

In old times, when a school of whales was sighted, an intricate system of smoke signals and sheets spread on particular points was used to send the message from village to village and island to island.

The famous Faroese ballad dance, still a vital part of many a Faroese social event, was once a regular occurrence after a whale drive. After the hard and cold work of driving and killing the whales, men would often gather to "dance themselves warm" as the expression goes, chanting traditional Faroese ballads, while waiting for their shares of the catch go be calculated by the local sheriff.

Times have changed. These days radios and telephones send the message that a school of pilot whales has been sighted, although the ancient signalling system is acctually still valid. Faroese ballad dancing after a drive is rare today, as people can travel home in cars and on ferries to change their wet clothes and to wait for their shares to be allotted.

Fishing boats are now equipped with outboard motors, and this makes the work of driving a school of whales less difficult than in former centuries when men had to rely on their rowing skills.

Despite the rapid and dramatic changes in our technological age, pilot whaling in the Faroe Islands has kept its original function as a communal, non-commercial whale drive for free food. A pilot whale drive brings people from all levels of the local community together to take part in the hard work involved, and to share a successful catch equally among themselves, without the exchange of money.

Pilot whaling has adapted to change and has included modern techniques side by side with the best of the traditional methods and tools. After all, the purpose of pilot whaling is still the same - to provide Faroe Islanders with a highly- valued and nutritious supply of whale meat and blubber.