Nearly 100 dolphins, including an unborn baby and a young calf, have been killed in the Faroe Islands.
The massacre is considered the largest bottlenose dolphin hunt in more than 120 years.
According to the Sea Shepherd conservation group, islanders in the Faroe Islands have killed 98 adults, an unborn baby and a young calf.
Experts believe the dolphins were driven to the coast of Skálafjørðuras island and killed with knives, spears or other sharp weapons.
The water turned red with blood after this week’s murders.
Such hunts are a traditional part of the history of the Faroe Islands, but are widely condemned by conservation organizations.
The Sea Shepherd organization, which filmed the latest massacre, said in a statement: “This dolphin hunt, and indeed the killing of all pilot whales and dolphins in the Faroe Islands, is simply outrageous and will rightly cause further national and international outrage.
“Again, some animals show lacerations from ship propellers that boats ran into or over.”
Last year, Metro.co.uk exclusively revealed how 1,428 white-sided dolphins were slaughtered on the same island.
The animals were herded to shore before having their throats slit as part of the age-old tradition.
So many were killed that excess blubber was taken to an incineration center in garbage trucks.
Despite widespread horror at last year’s massacre – some suggested the UK cut trade ties with the Faroe Islands in retaliation – the hunts have still continued.
Islanders are said to be divided over the practice, known as grindadráp yachts.
Fishing remains an important industry for the local population and the whales and dolphins killed during grindadráp are intended to be distributed throughout the community rather than exported.
Many have urged activists to respect their culture and have vowed to continue the hunt.
Due to the remoteness of the islands in the North Atlantic – northwest of Scotland and halfway between Iceland and Norway – many traditions have not been influenced by modern society.
But the hunt for dolphins and pilot whales has been condemned by animal rights groups and labeled ‘barbaric’.
In a conversation with Metro.co.uk last year, Blue Planet Society volunteer John Hourston argued that the tradition was no longer necessary.
He said: ‘The justification we keep getting is that this is for food, despite the fact that the Faroe Islands are one of the richest countries in the European economic zone.
“They have supermarkets everywhere.”
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