The reasons behind the islanders’ dolphin hunting practices

The call of the conch shell evoked dolphin hunters from their beds. Under the moonlight, six men shuffled into the village church.

There the priest led them in a whispering prayer. The tide was high that day. The salt water was pooled in part of the village on Fanarey Island, part of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.

They paddled out into wooden canoes before the first light, cutting through the darkness until they were miles away from the coast. After a few hours of scans, we saw one of the hunters, Leslie Hughi, slashing open the glassy water. He raised a 10-foot-long bamboo stick with a cloth tied to the end, warning others of his discovery. He then called his wife. He had found a dolphin. The hunt begins.

These men are among the last dolphin hunters in the Solomon Islands. Some critics say the massacre is cruel and unnecessary. But for some 130 residents of Fanarei, traditional hunts have taken on a new urgency as climate change threatens their homes. They say they need dolphins for their valuable teeth, used as local currency to buy land in the highlands and escape the sinking home.

Each tooth is worth three Solomon Islands dollars (about $0.36) (price set by the Chief of Fanarei), and a single dolphin hunt, which costs about $200, can bring tens of thousands of dollars, more than any other economic activity on the island.

“We regret killing the dolphin, but we really have no other option,” Fugi said. He mentioned that he would be willing to give up the hunt if there was an alternative way to secure his family’s future.

Crops can no longer be grown on about a third of the wana rays in New York City’s Central Park. Once fertile land has been ruined by erosion of salt water. The government promotes seaweed farming as a source of income, while overseas conservation groups provide cash to end the hunt. However, the ocean is both an existential threat and the most profitable resource for villagers. Government research suggests that the island could be underwater by the end of the century.

“For lowland islands like us, I witness with my own eyes how rising oceans affect our lives,” said Principal Wilson Fee, Fanaray.