Animal conservationists demand a stop to "Dream Ship" (cruise ship) landings on the Faroe Islands due to whale massacres

Hagen (ots) - Unperturbed by warnings and protests from the "Whale
and Dolphin Conservation Forum (WDSF)", the German cruise companies
AIDA, TUI and Hapag Lloyd still want to stop at the Faroe Islands in
the North Atlantic, even though there is a high risk that passengers
may become eye witnesses to cruel, bloody whale and dolphin slaughter
just off the landing ports, and could be poisoned in restaurants if
they eat the highly contaminated whale meat.

WDSF manager Jürgen Ortmüller recently travelled back to the
European group of islands to ascertain this risk. Ortmüller warns:
"It is irresponsible and dangerous for cruise liners to offer
landings and shore leaves on the Faroe Islands. Last year alone 1,534
marine mammals were brutally slaughtered between July and November on
the beaches and in the harbours. In August five specially protected
beaked whales were caught and killed. A "Dream Ship" visit was not
involved there, but this butchery could make for a traumatic
experience for passengers and their children. After the public
massacres of pilot whales and other types of dolphins the entire
beach and harbour area turned blood-red and the air was filled with a
bestial stench of death. The meat from the animals is highly
contaminated with methyl mercury and PCBs and is in some cases
offered to residents and tourists in restaurants for around 45 Euros
and on markets.

AIDAbella and HapagLloyd, with the MS Europa, are scheduled to
call at the Faroe Islands in September every year despite the
warnings. The TUI visit with My Ship calls at the islands every
summer. The AIDA environmental representative Monika Griefahn,
formerly a Greenpeace officer and Minister of the Environment for
Lower Saxony, wrote a letter as early as last year, in a WDSF
publication, to the Faroese Prime Minister Kaj Leo Johannesen asking
him to stop the whale catch and alternatively offer whale watching
tours. The chairman of HapagLloyd cruises, Karl J. Pojer, repeated
this demand in a letter of August, 25, 2014 to the Prime Minister
following the WDSF protests. However, following the AIDA appeal the
massacres of pilot whales and dolphins have continued unabated.

The attitude of the cruise liners is incomprehensible to the WDSF.
The animal conservation organisation is now calling for a boycott and
demonstration against AIDA, TUI and HapagLloyd. Ortmüller: "If
supposedly environmentally aware companies are still promoting the
infrastructure and thus indirectly the killing of the marine mammals
by allowing thousands of passengers to go ashore when calling at the
Faroe Islands, putting them at risk, these irresponsible cruise
operators must be stopped. If they still do not come to their senses
we will organise demonstrates against this outrage not only in front
of the central offices of the companies but also in front of the
private homes of the managers by legal law".

In statements by AIDA and HapagLloyd to the WDSF they allege that
the companies do not offer whale meat on board their ships and that
they would warn their passengers against eating it ashore. However,
they do not want to waive their scheduled landings.

The WDSF has not yet received a reply from TUI Cruises to its
letter of protest. The German TUI Group, co-owner of TUI Cruise, has
only recently agreed with WDSF, in the interests of animal
conservation, to stop offering dolphin-and orcashows worldwide.

There is much harsh criticism on the Facebook pages of the cruise
liners. Hapag Lloyd immediately removed its page from the Internet
and critical users and the WDSF manager blocked the AIDA Facebook
page. The WDSF itself reached over 40,000 users with its call for
protests.

Homepage about WDSF, Cruises and Faroe Islands:
http://ots.de/8H8ic

Pressekontakt:
Jürgen Ortmüller
Gesellschafter-Geschäftsführer
Mobil: 0151 24030 952

Wal- und Delfinschutz-Forum (WDSF)
gemeinnützige UG (haftungsbeschränkt)
Möllerstr. 19
58119 Hagen
0049/(0)2334/919022 tel
0049/(0)2334/919019 fax

E-mail: wds-forum@t-online.de
Homepage: www.wdsf.de