Move The Island Games Until The Faroe Islands Stop Killing Whales

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Sponsor: Free The Ocean

The 2027 Island Games risk becoming a global celebration shadowed by the killing of whales and dolphins unless leaders choose compassion over tradition and move the Games or end the hunts now.

Move The Island Games Until The Faroe Islands Stop Killing Whales

The Faroe Islands are scheduled to host the 2027 Island Games after another host withdrew due to financial pressures.1 Thousands of athletes and visitors from island communities around the world are expected to travel to the North Atlantic archipelago to celebrate sport, cooperation, and shared identity.

But the same waters that will frame the Games remain the site of an ongoing and violent practice that many around the world cannot reconcile with those values.

The Grindadráp Continues

Each year, pilot whales and dolphins are driven into shallow bays and killed in coordinated hunts known as the grindadráp. In some years, hundreds or even more than a thousand cetaceans are slaughtered, often entire pods at once.3 Over the past two decades, more than 20,000 whales and dolphins have been killed in Faroese waters.4

What was once framed as subsistence has changed in scale and impact. Modern boats and equipment now allow hunters to pursue species that were historically untouched, intensifying both the suffering and the number of animals killed.3

Health Risks and Changing Public Opinion

Medical and environmental research has raised serious concerns about the safety of consuming whale and dolphin meat. Toxins such as mercury and PCBs accumulate in these animals, posing neurological and developmental risks to humans, particularly children and pregnant women.6

Public opinion within the Faroe Islands is not unified. Surveys show that many residents have never participated in the hunts, and a significant portion say they would not be affected if whale and dolphin hunting were banned.3 This signals that change is possible.

Why the Island Games Matter

The Island Games represent international cooperation, mutual respect, and pride among island nations. Hosting the Games confers global visibility and legitimacy. Conservation organizations argue that proceeding while the grindadráp continues sends a message that large-scale animal suffering can be overlooked for the sake of tradition or convenience.5

Charities and advocates are calling on organizers to move the 2027 Games unless the Faroe Islands commit to ending the hunts, aligning the event with widely shared values of compassion and respect for life.5

Take Action for a Better Future

Ending the grindadráp would prevent future suffering and allow the Faroe Islands to welcome the world without this stain. Until that happens, the 2027 Island Games should be held in a location that reflects the ethical standards expected by the international community.

Add your name now and call for the 2027 Island Games to be moved unless the Faroe Islands end the grindadráp.

More on this issue:

  1. BBC Sport (22 December 2023), “2027 Island Games: Faroe Islands to host after Ynys Mon pull out.”
  2. Faroe Islands Government (2023), “Faroe Islands step in for the Island Games 2027.”
  3. Lottie Pearson, Whale and Dolphin Conservation (2 July 2024), “Why do Faroese communities hunt pilot whales?.”
  4. Stop the Grind (2025), “Why Should The Grind Be Banned?”
  5. 3FM Isle of Man News (4 August 2025), “Take Island Games off Faroe over dolphin and whale cull say charities.”
  6. Only One (3 March 2025), “Stop the Cruel Dolphin and Whale Hunts in the Faroe Islands.”

The Petition

To the Faroe Islands Government, the Faroe Islands Ministry of Culture, and the International Island Games Association,

We write to urge a decisive and humane course of action regarding the 2027 Island Games. As plans advance to host the Games in the Faroe Islands, the international community remains deeply concerned by the continued practice of the grindadráp—the organized killing of pilot whales and dolphins in Faroese waters.

The Island Games celebrate cooperation, mutual respect, and pride among island communities. These values resonate across cultures and borders. They are also values that stand in stark contrast to a practice that results in the repeated killing of highly social, intelligent marine mammals. While the grindadráp is often defended as tradition, tradition alone cannot justify ongoing harm when knowledge, alternatives, and global standards of animal welfare have evolved.

We therefore call for the Faroe Islands to cease the grindadráp as a condition of hosting the 2027 Island Games. If this practice continues, we respectfully urge the International Island Games Association to relocate the 2027 Games to a host nation aligned with widely shared principles of compassion, environmental responsibility, and respect for life.

This request is not made lightly, nor is it intended to disparage Faroese culture or identity. On the contrary, it reflects a belief that cultures are not static. They adapt. They grow. They respond to new understanding and to the moral expectations of the wider world. Ending the grindadráp would signal leadership, courage, and a willingness to shape a future that honors both people and the natural world that sustains them.

Humanity and compassion must guide decisions that affect vulnerable life. Whales and dolphins play vital roles in ocean ecosystems, and their suffering reverberates far beyond any single shoreline. Choosing to protect them affirms a shared responsibility to act with empathy, restraint, and foresight.

By ending the grindadráp and aligning the Island Games with humane values—or by moving the Games until that step is taken—these institutions can prevent future suffering and establish a legacy rooted in respect rather than controversy. Such action would strengthen the spirit of the Island Games and demonstrate that international celebration need not come at the expense of life.

These choices will help ensure a better future for marine life, for island communities, and for all who believe that progress is measured not only by what we celebrate, but by what we choose to protect.

Sincerely,

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