Faroes PM pledges dolphin hunt review amid outcry at carnage

Faroese have been killing whales since Viking times but many islanders now oppose annual slaughter

In a parked car overlooking the ocean sit two of the biggest whale killers in the Faroe Islands. They look exhausted, but not from hunting. Olavur Sjuraberg, 75, and Hans J Hermansen, 73, have been on the phone constantly since a mass killing of 1,428 white-sided dolphins in the Faroe Islands on Sunday sparked international outrage and led the Faroes prime minister to announce on Thursday that the government would review the dolphin hunt.

Neither Sjuraberg nor Hermansen participated in the killing, but they are the current and former chairman of the Faroese Whalers Association, founded in 1992 to explain and defend the traditional killing of whales in the islands, known as the grind", and ensure it is as efficient and respectful as possible.