90: Lean into Clean with Jarvis Smith - Episode 9090: Lean into Clean with Jarvis Smith - Episode 90
UK Health Radio Podcast
Jarvis Smith speaks with Sea Shepherd’s Valentina Krask about dolphin and whale hunts in the Faroe Islands, the wider climate and ocean crisis, and how everyday people can push for political and cultural change. Their conversation blends hard facts, personal stories and practical steps for anyone who feels called to protect marine life.
44:42•1 Apr 2026
Dolphins, Tradition and the Power of Speaking Up with Sea Shepherd’s Valentina Krask
Episode Overview
- The Faroe Islands’ dolphin and whale hunts are framed as tradition and communal food, yet involve severe cruelty and meat that is considered unsafe due to pollution.
- Sea Shepherd focuses on protecting marine life through ships at sea, on-the-ground documentation and campaigns against illegal fishing and whaling.
- Over 60 UK MPs have already backed action by responding to citizens who wrote to them about ending the hunts and pushing for clearer labelling and trade pressure.
- Valentina stresses that tradition cannot justify abuse and that the Faroe Islands no longer rely on whale meat for survival, given their wealth and food imports.
- Both Jarvis and Valentina highlight that individual choices—emails, boycotts, kindness to other species—add up and can shift political and cultural attitudes.
“Culture is just not, or tradition is just not an excuse for abuse. It's just not.”
How do people find hope in the darkest times? This conversation on UK Health Radio’s *Lean into Clean* looks straight at two huge challenges – the climate emergency and brutal dolphin and whale hunts – and asks what ordinary people can actually do about them. Host Jarvis Smith chats with campaign director **Valentina Krask** from Sea Shepherd, who works on stopping the mass killing of dolphins and pilot whales in the Faroe Islands, just 200 miles north of Scotland.
She explains, in unflinching detail, how whole pods are driven into shallow waters and killed in the name of tradition, even though the meat has long been labelled unsafe because of mercury and other pollutants. Jarvis shares his own life-changing encounter swimming with wild dolphins in Hawaii, while Valentina talks about watching a documentary on dolphin slaughter in Japan that pushed her from nursing into full-time marine activism. For her, "the ocean" is summed up in one word: **home**.
You’ll hear how Sea Shepherd uses ships and on-the-ground volunteers to document hunts, challenge illegal fishing, and push for political change. A growing group of over 60 UK MPs has already backed calls to pressure the Faroe Islands through trade and clear labelling of Faroese products, all sparked by people emailing their MPs. As Valentina puts it, "culture is just not, or tradition is just not an excuse for abuse.
It's just not." The chat also touches on the mindset behind change: why kindness to other species is essential, why every email or act of support counts, and why thinking "I can’t make a difference" is exactly what keeps destructive systems in place.
If you’ve ever felt that love of nature is tugging at you but you’re unsure where to start, this episode might leave you asking: what small action could you take today for the ocean that we all call home?
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