AEI speaks about whaling practices in the Faroe Islands

A few weeks ago a cruise ship witnessed a traditional whale hunt in the Faroe Islands. It caused a lot of distress among the passengers. We were asked by the Washington Post to comment.

You can read the whole article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2023/07/13/faroe-islands-whale-hunt-slaughter-cruise-line/

While we believe our quote does get to the heart of what we think is important about travel, we did want to share our whole comment because it could spark even more conversation.

I don't think it's a tour operators' responsibility to shield passengers from the truth. The whale hunt in the Faroe Islands is indeed harrowing but it is a reality. While I don't think culture is ever an excuse for violence, this whale hunt, for the present is a part of the culture and history of the Faroe Island. To shield passengers from seeing it would be engaging in erasure around the very people we should be engaging with when we visit their traditional lands. Shielding people from cultural events also takes away the nuance in discussions that could and should happen around animal welfare, traditional activities and tourism. 

I think it's also important to create room for discussions about animal welfare and marine conservation for those aboard these ships. I don't ever think discussion is bad, especially when all parties are given a seat at the table. 

The whale hunt is extremely distressing to witness. Full stop. But turning away doesn't help the animals who are killed, and it doesn't help give voice to those who take part in the hunt. Shielding passengers only allows them to be ignorant to both the traditional culture of the place they are visiting and to the sentient beings who are being slaughtered. 

I don't think tragic scenes should be accepted but they also shouldn't be hidden away either. 

A Photo 10 Years In The Making...

AEIs co-founders are two animal lovers named Nora and Heather. A lot of people ask how they met. Back in 2008 Nora got at job at a wildlife centre in Toronto and Heather was (and still is) the head wildlife veterinarian there. Nora was the volunteer coordinator. Fresh back from a volunteering and backpacking adventure in central, south and east Asia Nora felt like she knew what made exceptional volunteer programs and what didn’t. She didn’t have much experience coordinating volunteers but she thought if she stuck with the golden rule and treated the volunteers as she wanted to be treated, everything would be great!

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One day Nora was looking for resources and found a book: Something in a Cardboard Box. It was written by Les Stocker, the founder of a wildlife teaching hospital in England. The wildlife centre’s name? Tiggywinkles, named after the hedgehog in the Beatrix Potter series! Nora thought it sounded like an incredible place. Not only was it a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre (Nora’s fav.) but it also was called Tigglewinkles. What a name! Icing on the cake was they helped rescue hedgehogs, badgers, red kites and all matter of wonderfully English and European animals. At that time it seemed like it was so far away maybe Nora could only dream of visiting. Nora showed the book to Heather and they talked about how Tiggywinkles had a great name, wonderful ethos and some of the most photogenic animals they have ever seen!

Fast forward to 2017. Nora and Heather now run Animal Experience International and have travelled all over North America, Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa visiting wildlife centres along the way. They signed up for the 2018 British Veterinary Nurse Association Conference in Telford England and got ready for another trip together.

2018 came and they had a wildly fun and successful conference and then realised Tiggywinkles was right around the corner- in Canadian terms! It was just an hour and a half drive from where they were staying.

On Tuesday they visited the centre and were able to be absolutely delighted by the professionalism, the warmness and the commitment to animal welfare at Tiggywinkles. For Nora it was a dream fulfilled to go to THE Tiggywinkles and she couldn’t have been more delighted than to share it with Heather. The trip to Tiggywinkles wasn’t just a great outing to see red kites, ravens, polecats and hedgehogs in sanctuary, it was also a marker for them- to see how far they had come. Something In A Cardboard Box was there when they met each other and now this centre was there to celebrate a work friendship that blossomed into a social enterprise with hundreds of volunteers and alumni around the world. And how did they celebrate? With their very own hedgehog selfie, a photo truly a decade in the making.