show a cove turned red by dolphin blood as the first animals o in the latest hunt on the Faroes Islands. One image captured a child in a rainbow onesie looking at the animals being slaughtered in the shallow waters at Leynar, a village on the archipelago just 230 miles north of Scotland.

The with a visit by the Danish King Frederik and Queen Mary to the rugged islands in the North Atlantic. Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane World for Animals UK: "The Faroe Islands' tourism board describes the islands as 'Europe's best kept secret' but there's nothing secret about these open-air bloodbaths. It's tragic that the incredible natural beauty of the by its reputation for inflicting such horrific suffering on families of whales.

"I have witnessed the aftermath of a grind and the image of partially decapitated calves laid on the dock next to their mothers is one that will never leave me. These hunts have been happening for hundreds of years but traditions can and should evolve, and culture can never be an excuse for cruelty.

"The UK is a major market for Faroese trade and we should make our trading relationship contingent on the Faroes committing to stop the slaughter and start a new chapter of compassion and respect in their long history with whales."

Campaigners have said the UK's £1.3billion imports of Faroese fish each year props up the industry which fuels the hunts.

The island nation's dolphin hunts involve powerboats driving the marine mammals to shallow waters before they are killed in designated killing bays with lances and knives.

Whaling is a tradition on the archipelago which sees the animals, usually dolphins, driven into shallow bays and killed with with lances and knives.

Danny Groves, head of communication at Whale and Dolphin Conservation, said: "Each year over 100,000 dolphins and small whales are killed in hunts across the globe but the Grind in the Faroes are some of the most vicious. There is no need for these opportunistic hunts to continue in the modern world.

"The requirement to meet nutritional needs is no longer an excuse for this awful cruelty. Pilot whale meat is contaminated with heavy metals and comes with Faroese health authority toxicity warnings for those who may wish to eat it. It is estimated that since 2010 around 900 pilot whales and dolphins are slaughtered in Faroese each year and their deaths are horrific. Family groups are driven to shore where blunt metal hooks are sunk into their blowholes. They are dragged up the beach where they are often killed in a very rudimentary way.

"Pilot whales and dolphins are paralysed and killed with a spinal lance (a tool with a double-edged blade). Death is agonising and often very slow. Whales play a vital part in keeping the ocean healthy, and a healthy ocean helps our collective fight to reverse climate breakdown. We need more whales in the ocean not less. These hunts are totally pointless."