On May 27, a massive pod of more than 400 long-finned pilot whales was spotted off the coast of Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands—a remote archipelago located about 200 miles north of Scotland. By early evening, dozens of motorboats converged on the animals, forming a wide arc around them to block their escape as crews revved their engines and pounded on the hulls of their vessels, using ...