🚨BREAKING🚨 Yesterday, around noon, a grind was called In the Faroe Islands. A pod of pilot whales had been spotted by a couple of Faroese fishing boats, and, in spite of the rough weather, local authorities called for the pod to be chased to shore and killed.

The drive hunt itself took over 3 hours. During this time, the pod was forced in the direction of Hannasund, surrounded by motorboats, preventing them from breaking free from the chase. The visual injuries of many of the whales after the kill were clear:
The hunters sailed over the whales several times, causing extreme pain and visible damage to the terrified animals. Our crew documented a very young whale with its tail fin almost severed from its body, caused by a boat propeller. After being driven close to shore, a hunter slowly walked out to the young whale, still with visible fetal folds. He put a large hook in its small blowhole, held it for minutes, until finally, someone came and cut open his neck, causing it to bleed out and finally die.

This was anything but quick, professional, or humane, and the story of the Grindadrap being carried out by professionals with respect for nature and whales is a lie. No one with empathy and respect for these animals could carry out these killings. Chasing them for hours.

Dragging them to shore by their blowholes. Cutting their necks, leaving them to bleed out surrounded by their family members. Entire families wiped out, with the loss of future generations of whales that our oceans need to thrive.

This is why we need to keep exposing this until local voices decide enough is enough. This extreme animal cruelty is not worthy of the Faroese society. This blatant disregard for the ocean`s valuable life cannot go on at a time when the international community as a whole to protect it. #dontvisitfaroeislands

Photos and caption by @seashepherd. ...

🚨BREAKING 🚨
A pregnant fin whale was killed and pulled ashore this morning by whaling ship Hvalur 9.
One hour into the butchering process of this large female, as workers started to cut open the belly of the animal with a sharp flensing knife, an estimated 4 meter long unborn calf slid out of the womb onto the flensing deck of the whaling station.
To be honest with you, it`s hard to find the right words at the moment to describe something so unimaginably horrible.
This caption and photos are from our partner @hardtoportorg who is on the ground documenting these horrific slaughters. They need your support so any and all donations are appreciated.
Arne Feuerhahn | Hard To Port
#stoppumhvalveidar #inhumane #animalcruelty ...

The 2023 Ocean Photographer of the Year Awards delivered jaw dropping imagery. There were many incredible winning pieces(and runner ups), all of which you should check out at the link in our bio.

Here are a few of our favorites, but we will start with the overall winner, a paper nautilus(small octopus) captured by Jialing Cai.

Jialing recounts the his experience capturing this incredible shot:

"Following the Taal Volcano eruption in the Philippines, the water column filled with particles from stirred-up sediment," says Cai. "Navigating through the low visibility and dense fog during a blackwater dive, I found this female paper nautilus taking a ride on a drifting wooden stick. When I pressed the shutter, the particles reflected my light. The scene felt unusually serene following the natural disaster and reminds me of a fairytale set in a snowy night. As underwater photographers, we aim to shoot in clear water but this image reminds us that grains of sand, organic matter, or tiny organisms are integral parts of the underwater environment. I aim to accept their presence and seek non-disruptive ways to incorporate them into my images."

**Swipe through the remaining images to see our other favorites, all artists are tagged in their respective photos.

1. Jialing Cai
2. Florian Ledoux
3. Craig Parry
4. Alvaro Herrero Lopez
5. Sylvie Ayer
6. Ross Long
7. Scott Portelli
8. Andrei Savin
9. Jack Pokoj
10. Sirachai Arunrugstichai ...