The organization said a super-pod of 1,428 Atlantic white-sided dolphins was corralled by speed boats and jet skis onto Skálabotnur beach on the island of Eysturoy, where they were then killed.

The Faroe Islands are an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, lying about halfway between Scotland and Iceland in the Atlantic Ocean.

The annual whale hunt, or grindadráp in Faroese, has been a part of local culture for centuries -- but it usually involves the hunting of pilot whales.

The Faroese Executive Order on Hunting Pilot Whales and Other Small Whales, issued in January 2017, states either the district administrator or foreman must approve any hunts and gives them the responsibility to "ensure that enough people are available on shore to kill the whales."

Bjorg Jacobsen from the Faroe Islands Police told CNN the hunt had been legal, but he declined to comment further.

In a written statement, Faroese government spokesperson Páll Nolsøe told CNN the "notification about the sighting of the whales was given to the district administrator, and the district administrator, in consultation with the whaling foremen, designated the authorised whaling bay the whales should be driven into."

He said it "was organised and carried out in accordance with Faroese legislation" and "there were no breaches of law and regulations," adding that this had been confirmed by the Faroese Ministry of Fisheries.

The Faroe Islands Police did not respond to a CNN request for comment on the allegations.

"Considering the times we are in, with a global pandemic and the world coming to a halt, it's absolutely appalling to see an attack on nature of this scale in the Faroe Islands," Sea Shepherd Global's CEO, Alex Cornelissen, said in a statement.

The Faroe Islands Whales and Whaling body has continued to stand by the practice in recent years, stating on its website, "the average catch of around 800 whales a year is not considered to have a significant impact on the abundance of pilot whales, which are estimated at around 778,000."