Canada's seal hunt, after brief interlude, to resume as early as Thursday

The accompanying photos are among the least graphic being offered for media use by animal rights groups chronicling Canada's controversial seal hunt, which began last week in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and may resume there as early as Thursday.

Other images, as posted on previous Outposts items, showed blood and gore contrasting glistening ice. One  Humane Society of the United States image was of a carcass rendered to an oily pulp with its wide black eyes fully intact and seeming to gaze directly into the lens in horror.

I e-mailed that one to my boss just after the lunch hour and was placed prominently in the doghouse, I'm sure.

Anyway, there was but a brief respite for the seals, caused by ice that restricted boat access from North Sydney. New groups of hunters from Newfoundland, Labrador and the North Shore of Quebec will join in as early as Sunday to help conclude the Gulf portion of an effort that will cull 84,424 seals.

The hunt then will shift to an area east of Newfoundland and Labrador, where more than 175,000 seals may be killed. In all, as many as 338,000 harp, hooded and gray seals might fall victim to slaughter.

Canada's Fisheries and Oceans Departmentcites a tripling of the harp seal population since the 1970s -- when the population was thought by some to be over-hunted and in jeopardy -- to nearly 5 million as justification for the hunt. It also has claimed the seals present a threat to other fisheries and that a hunt of "a sustainable resource" is important to fishermen in remote coastal regions.

Naturally, animal rights groups feel the hunt is mostly carried out for profit. Said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society: "This is the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world, and it is driven entirely by the value of the pelts destined for international markets and by the interest of local sealers to profit at the expense of these helpless creatures."

With this next round of slaughter, undoubtedly, will come lots more telling images.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo (top):  Hunters prepare to club  seals. Credit: Stewart Cook / International Fund for Animal Welfare

Photo (bottom): Hunter tosses seal in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Credit: Stewart Cook / International Fund for Animal Welfare

Comments

[Zoye, Nauleen]

this cruel and barberic crime is not right. To all the people protecting the seal hunters and the seal hunters them selves, how would you feel if if you got hit multiple times across the head? how would you feel if you were that baby seals mother, watching her inacent little baby getting ripped apart? or the other way around? would any one in there right mind want there mothers feel that kind of pain I don't think so! Gosh! killing a baby seal is like mudering someone you love! really i don't care what the seal hunters think because there the ones that have to live with this for the rest of there lives! there the ones that will hear the seals huting cries! I no were your going when you die, and I no they do to! seal hunters are very sick people! they shouldn't be able to hunt such a cute and incent little creature, they will soon be extinct, THERE IS NO NEED TO KILL THEM! and what for? for coats! todays secoity is and will be the same. it's all about money and power and i think thats why seal hunters do this to feel that they have a sence of power but really they are the smaller person in this battle! and a Q for the seal hunters how much do they give you for fear must be alot if you are willing to do such a crime! the last thing i want to say is Why isen't the goverment doing anything about this?

[Maxim]

with out a doubt, the method used in this hunt is barbaric, grotesque and appauling. There are surely better ways to harvest this population.

As for calls to end the hunt altogether, for years the seal hunt has kept the seal population constant and the seals have adapted to that high level of human predation. If you suddenly remove that pressure, the population of Harp Seals will explode, and they will quickly outpace their food supply. We will see thousands of starving dying seals of all ages.

Additionally, the explosion of the seal population will have cascading effects on fish, invertebrates and all other animals that exist in the region. Fish will decline due to increased seal predation preventing what little recovery is possible in cod fisheries. Alternatively, the increase in seals may decrease seabird populations in a zero-sum scenario resulting in no net increase in fisheries pressure.

The potential effects are limitless, and may be detrimental to the ecosystem. Before commiting to end or sustain the hunt we must deeply consider if humanity is too entrenched in this ecosystem to withdraw without severely damaging it.

[Alexandra]

Hi, I need you for helping the seals, if you have a facebook account, please sign this petiton for stopping the seals hunt.

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/84?m=20567180&recruiter_id=15768701&prs=5eb

Thanks for all

[Carmen]

The so called seal hunt is a BARBARIC and shameful practice that has no place in the 21st century! Shame on you, Canada!!

[MIA MANIFOLD]

CANADIAN 'SEALERS' ............FOR WANT OF A BETTER NAME........... NEED PROFESSIONAL HELP AS THEY ARE CERTIFIABLE.

I believe, as do all rational normal well adjusted humane human beings , that the sadistic killers of baby seals known as "sealers" are certifiable. They have lost their minds due to a toxic combination of drugs and alcohol and /or/ or just born bad and evil in the extreme. No one with the slightest feelings of kindness and compassion could do what these "sealers" (such a nice word ) do for a living. Why dont the Canadian people stand up and loudly voice their horror ? are they so downtrodden and brainwashed they cant speak up ? demand the insipid callous money hungry government stop this hideous slaughter ? are they afraid or just so apathetic they dont care ? I cannot and will not believe that ALL Canadians are tarred with the same brush, that they have no compassion and love of animals, and yet they do nothing..stand up and be counted, if this barbaric seal slaughter in the extreme bothers you, speak up and tell your goverment what you think and demand it stops. . now.

And for what ? coats? trinkets? hats ? cosmetics? its sickening in the extreme and I cannot stand to even look at the footage..why dont Americans express their disgust and protest the seal slaughter? its going on right next door , protest and dont buy seal products.

It distresses me so much I have visions of these white poor defenceless baby seals screaming in distress, they can smell fear & death & they know these vicious crazed cretins are going to hurt /kill them, and the "sealers" just have a ball smashing in their tiny skulls as those innocent brown eyes watch with horror as an ice pick sears through their skulls. .. oh if only I could do the same to those disturbed "humans" who inflict such horror. . ..poetic justice.

From what I understand, Paul Watson has been instrumental in stopping seal products being bought by now, Spain. It wont be long before all humane countries will follow as this depraved act of smashing in the heads of a tiny little helpless animal then skinning it , usually alive , is archaic and belongs in the dark ages where men were sub human . . it seems the "sealers" have not evolved and are still 'sub human' depraved pieces of filth.

To those losers who claim people protest because the babies are "cute" ....."sealers" were once "cute" as babies too,. what a shame no one drove a pick through their skulls before they became tortured dark sick evil adults who willingly go onto the ice with one mission in mind, to bash baby seals to death.

Sealers, like whalers, make me physically sick to my stomach , they should be arrested , they would be if they lived in Australia.. may you "sealers" all rot in hell.

[Lennox]

The Canadian government shames it's people with this barbaric massacre, save one Senator who tried to introduce a bill to stop it this year, his bill was not backed by any other senator so it could not go through. I really feel that these sealers have become addicted to this kill because it is not a natural act to skin a baby mammal alive. I really hope the EU completely bans the imports of all these grisly products, at the momnt it seems to be the only way to stop the carnage.

[john649]

This is most assuredly one of the most barbaric practices known to man. Canadians will look back on this period of seal slaughter as one of the darkest ages in Canadian history. Shame on you!

[Ann]

As a Canadian I am deeply troubled by the evidence of widespread cruelty in the seal hunt. I am offended that my taxes are being used to promote an industry where after 13 years, and countless thousands of dollars, 10 Newfoundland and Labrador sealers were found not guilty of slaughtering and illegally selling the pelts of young hooded seals. These men have been given an absolute discharge for a clear violation of the Marine Mammal Regulations at a time when the Government of Canada is attempting to convince the world that the commercial seal hunt is regulated and monitored and violations are dealt with swiftly and effectively. In Scotland, recently, a fisherman clubbed grey seals to death on a remote Scottish island and he has been jailed for 80 days. In the civilized world the authorities are committed to a proactive approach to wildlife crime, it is not to be tolerated. In Canada the government can apparently act without accountability (even it seems to its own electorate), in matters relating to animal cruelty - Canada's anti-cruelty legislation still does not properly protect animals to U.S. and European standards. The cruelty of the seal hunt is undeniable and the level of suffering currently permitted should be an embarrassment to every Canadian.

[yelda]

This really, really makes me angry. Ever since the slaughter started this year, I haven't been able to get these images out of my head. The Canadian government is continually protecting those who really do NOT want to wor. I am so, so angry at the moment! We need to continue to bombard the EU Union, the Canadian Government and all others with emails until they do something.