Coastal geomorphology and culture in the spatiality of whaling in the Faroe Islands

2012/08/06 by Russell Fielding · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Health Professions · Environmental Science · #Arctic and Russian Policy Studies #Indigenous Studies and Ecology #Coastal and Marine Management #Whaling #Bathymetry #Shore #Geography #Whale #Fishery #Oceanography #Archaeology #Cartography #Geology #Biology

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1475-4762.2012.01123.x

openalex publication_date 2012/08/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

This paper explores the suggested relationship between the physical structure of beaches in the F aroe I slands and the spatial history and regulation of the grindadráp – the traditional method of whaling practised by the Faroese in which entire pods of whales are driven ashore by collective effort. Using coastal survey methods, this research shows a lack of strong correlation between beach morphology and the practice and regulation of whaling, except in the case of dramatic near‐shore bathymetric features. The gap between these data points can best be filled through cultural‐historical analysis, which informs our understanding of the dynamics behind the spatiality of Faroese whaling and whale conservation efforts.

Citations

• International Management of Whales and Whaling: An Historical Review of the Regulation of Commercial and Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling
• Neo‐Environmental Determinism, Intellectual Damage Control, and Nature/Society Science
• Environmentalist thinking and/in geography

Cited by

• Inclusive hunting: examining Faroese whaling using the theory of socio-cultural viability
• Whaling in the Faroe Islands [wikipedia]