text: Men harvest the meat of a pilot whale after a hunt in Sandur, Faroe Islands on Aug. 30, 2014. Not much can grow here, so the inhabitants have survived throughout the centuries by hunting seabirds, fishing, and raising sheep. The Faroese also hunt pilot whales. They call his hunt the grind. The word “grind” can refer to the pilot whales themselves, the whale meat, or the event of the hunt. The tradition has endured for nearly 1,000 years. The grind usually occurs in the summer, but there is no set date, or even a set season. A grind can happen at any minute. When a pod is spotted, everyone drops what they’re doing to participate in the hunt. The hunt has always been non-commercial, the meat is shared among the community. (Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images