In the Faroe Islands…

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2000:

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society development
director Frank Trinkle and Dutch entertainers Hans Teeuwen
and Theo Maassen were jailed on June 10 for allegedly landing
illegally at Torshavn, capital of the Faroe Islands, after
they went ashore in an inflatable life raft to protest Faroese
“drive hunts” of pilot whales and sometimes other cetaceans.
The whales are herded into shallow bays by fishing vessels
and hacked to death as the tide recedes.
Freed for deportation to the U.S. via Copenhagen
and Germany, Trinkle switched flights en route and held a
July 13 press conference in Amsterdam.

Earlier, Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson was
indicted for allegedly illegally steering the Ocean Warrior
into Faroese waters. Responded Watson, “We went exactly
where instructed when ordered by Faroese Customs, and we
have our Customs clearance in hand.”
The Sea Shepherds “lodged an official complaint
with the British government against the Faroese police for
having allegedly told the crew of the Ocean Warrior t o
‘forcefully convince the captain to leave, or purposely prevent
him from re-entering Faroese waters,’” said a Sea
Shepherd press release, which argued that the action was an
attempt to incite a mutiny.
“When a Sea Shepherd vessel first visited the
Faroes in 1985-1986, it was attacked by Faroese police
boats firing tear gas,” recalled Sea Shepherd press officer
Andrew Christie. “Faroese prime minister Atli Dam finally
promised Captain Watson that the pilot whale hunt would be
made more humane, and that children would no longer be
involved. The hunt remains an exercise in abject cruelty,
and children are still involved.”