Protest at 'macabre' pilot whale slaughter

(GETTY IMAGES)

Mutilated pilot whales line the dock at Klaksvic on the Faroe Islands, a Danish protectorate, after being slaughtered by islanders who slash and stab to death hundreds of the animals as part of an annual hunt.

Brigitte Bardot, the actress turned animal rights campaigner, joined the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in condemning the killings and writing to Queen Margrethe II of Denmark calling for the killings to be halted.

"This macabre spectacle is a shame for Denmark and the Faroe Islands," the letter said.