Live from the Ice

A Moment with Seals on the Ice

We flew into the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence today, where just days from now, the commercial seal hunt will begin. We found a few pans of ice, and for the first time in the past week, I was able to walk on solid sea ice.

I made my way across the floe, my gaze falling on the blue and purple hues of the ice. Looking out over the ice landscape, I felt as if I had come home.

There is no place on earth like this - the peace and the quiet and the innocence of the pups surround you entirely. A handful of baby seals were there, basking in the sun. We managed to get close to one who was just three weeks of age. His sweet face looked up at me from across the ice, and all at once, the tragedy of this impending hunt struck me full-force. 

In just a few days, the boats will come, and the pristine ice will be transformed into an open air slaughterhouse. 270,000 will be brutally clubbed and shot to death to make fashion accessories. My new friend will be searched out and slaughtered, his carcass tossed carelessly into the sea.

As we flew away from the ice, I wondered why it is that the sealers don't see what I do: a wildlife spectacle so beautiful it takes your breath away. As long as I live, I will never understand how anyone can come here and destroy something like this. As we flew back to land, we were all silent - knowing that when we return, this place of beauty and peace may no longer exist.

Keep the Pressure on Canada

I was appalled by yesterday's announcement from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. I can't believe that the Canadian government has authorized a quota of 270,000 seals after we've just had this ecological disaster.

The Canadian government and fishing industry will pursue this hunt as long as we allow them to. That's why it is so important to boycott Canadian seafood products and shut down markets for seal products around the world.

Watch our video reaction to yesterday's announcement and then sign the pledge to boycott Canadian seafood. You'll team up with more than 350,000 people who are using their buying power to keep the pressure on Canada to end the seal hunt. 

And stay tuned this afternoon - the ProtectSeals team is standing by for an announcement on the hunt start date.

The Seal Hunt Will Go On

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has just announced that despite the ecological tragedy that unfolded in the Gulf of St. Lawrence this month, the commercial seal hunt will proceed.

© The HSUS
Harp seal pups like this one, spotted in the
northern Gulf of St. Lawrence on March 27,
will be targeted in the hunt set to begin shortly.

Bad ice conditions have already likely caused  hundreds of thousands of helpless seal pups to perish. Now, in a reckless and politically motivated move, the Department has authorized sealers to kill another 270,000 seals in the commercial seal hunt.

The sealers are ready. Their boats have been fueled up and loaded with supplies, and some have already departed for the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the first stages of the hunt are expected to take place. The Canadian government has flown over the ice floes to locate the few surviving seal pups and they are reporting those locations to the sealers. And the Canadian Coast Guard is ready to break paths through the remaining ice for the sealing vessels.

Tomorrow the Canadian government will announce when the seal hunt will start. The ProtectSeals team is standing by and, when this hunt begins, we will be there to bear witness and expose the plight of the baby seals to the world.

It feels strange to be back here in Newfoundland, where I grew up, waiting to witness this slaughter. I can’t help but wonder how something as brutal and ugly as the commercial seal hunt can possibly go on in a place as startlingly beautiful as this.

Still No Pups As We Move North

In the nine years I have observed the seal hunt, I've never seen conditions as bad as those I've witnessed in the past few days. Nothing could have prepared me for this devastation.

The seals' habitat is melting from under them and we are anticipating nearly 100 percent mortality among the more than 260,000 seal pups the Canadian government indicates were born this year in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Yesterday we flew for hours over the northern Gulf near the Strait of Belle Isle. We found ice that looks just like the ice we saw in the south - tiny pans surrounded by areas of open water. We spotted a couple hundred adult seals, but no pups.

Seeing those adult seals yesterday was amazing. The sun reflected off their silvery fur as they played in the water and at the edge of the ice. These are the lucky ones - adult seals are not the target of this hunt.

All signs point to Canada moving ahead with this cruel commercial slaughter of seals. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans is expected to announce plans and a quota for this year's hunt on Friday. And, right now, the Canadian government is flying over the ice floes, conducting free surveys for the sealing industry to find the pups.

The sealers are preparing their vessels and, just days from now, they will search out and kill every seal pup that remains. The baby seals will not stand a chance; the hunters will know exactly where to find them.

It's heartbreaking. We are so close to ending this slaughter for good but we need you to help us. Watch our latest footage then tell Prime Minister Harper to call off the hunt.

Post Our Badge To Help Stop the Hunt

While the ProtectSeals team works on the front lines to expose the hunt's horrible cruelty, you can help us to stop the hunt forever, right from your computer.

Display our charity badge on your webpage, blog or social networking profile to help raise funds and awareness. All donations will be used exclusively to end the slaughter of Canada's seals.

Just copy and paste the code below the badge into your page. Note: Charity badges are not compatible on all sites, including MySpace and Facebook.

If you don’t have a website or blog, or if your site isn't compatible, you can still share the badge with friends and family by sending this link.

This is just one of the ways you can take action to help stop this cruel slaughter of baby seals.

<iframe width="160" scrolling="no" height="532" frameborder="0" align="left" src="http://www.networkforgood.org/pca/PersonalCharityBadge.aspx?pcaid=103886" style="height: 532px; width: 160px;"> </iframe>

Boats Gear Up For Hunt Despite Seal Shortage

© The HSUS

Yesterday we flew over the Gulf of St. Lawrence for two hours trying to find seals. We covered the areas that satellite images indicated had the most solid ice in the Gulf but all we saw were very broken pans, barely large enough to support a single seal. We passed a handful of adult harp seals scattered across the meager floes, but no pups.

Still, the sealing boats are gearing up in the Magdalene Islands and we think they may leave as early as today. Which means the seal hunt may start this week.

Because there are no live seal pups in the southern Gulf, it is likely the larger vessels will go north, into the Strait of Belle Isle. There, a small number of pups have been spotted by the Canadian government, which provides free flights for the sealing industry to locate the pups.

I cannot believe that the government will allow this slaughter to proceed, but I know in my heart they will. The bad ice conditions have likely already caused hundreds of thousands of pups to die. The hunters will find the remaining pups with the help of the Canadian government, and they will club and shoot them to death to make fashion items.

Whatever happens, we will be there to bear witness, and to expose the plight of these baby seals to the world. Watch our most recent footage from the ice (warning: video contains graphic footage):

One Baby Seal, Alone and Helpless

The seal pup tragedy continues to unfold east of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Today we flew over the area where the Canadian government told us the seal pups should be. But instead of the 260,000 pups that were supposed to be here, we saw only one.

One baby seal, still covered in white fur, desperately clinging to a broken pan of ice, surrounded by open water. In the vast ocean the pup looked so small and alone, and utterly helpless.

© The HSUS

Beside me in the helicopter was Gitte Seeberg, a member of the European Parliament, here to witness the tragedy of the seal hunt that is supposed to begin just days from now. Like me, she was shocked to see the ice conditions and to know that so many of the pups have already died.

I just cannot believe Canada’s leaders could allow this population - already devastated by climate change - to be subjected to a commercial slaughter for fur. I take heart in knowing that compassionate leaders in Europe are taking steps to close the markets for seal products. The end of this hunt is in sight at last.

Watch our new footage from the ice to learn more about why The HSUS is asking Canada to call off the hunt (warning: video contains graphic footage).

ProtectSeals Team Finds Few Survivors

Today Greenpeace Canada, the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Green Party of Canada appeared with me in Ottawa to make a joint plea to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stop the commercial seal hunt. 

More than 250,000 pups were estimated to have been born in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence this year. But the thin and fragile ice they were living on was swept out of the Gulf and straight into the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month. As the ocean swells and high winds smash up that ice even more, the pups are being forced into the water. They are too young to swim and they are dying by the thousands.

© The HSUS/Milani

Tragically, when The HSUS ProtectSeals team flew over the Atlantic Ocean today in search of the seals, they found just a few still alive. The seals clung to small pans of ice floating in the vast ocean, alone and helpless in the midst of the melting ice. Unbelievably, these few seals – and the tiny, broken bits of ice floating on the ocean surface – appear to be all that is left of the once spectacular harp seal nursery in the Gulf. I can't bear to think about what happened to so many of the newborn seals.

I know we can't stop the devastating effect global warming will have on the ice in the coming weeks. But the Canadian government can make sure the survivors are not clubbed and shot to death for their fur just days from now. Please send a message to Prime Minister Harper and ask him to act immediately to protect the seals.

Seals' Habitat Being Destroyed

Editor's note: Yesterday as Former Vice President Al Gore testified before Congress about global warming, Rebecca witnessed firsthand how climate change has devastated the ice cover over Canada's east coast and the harp seals who rely on it.

I flew over the Gulf of St. Lawrence yesterday by helicopter and witnessed an ecological tragedy. Right now, the critical habitat of harp seal pups is fast being destroyed by global warming. Ice cover in the Gulf is at a record low and conditions in the Front – the other area where commercial sealing happens – are not much better.

High winds and ocean currents have pulled the fragile ice and the pups on it out of the Gulf and into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Breton. These defenseless pups are now fighting for their lives as their habitat melts from under them. We are predicting there may be 100 percent mortality – it’s an absolute disaster.

Watch yesterday’s footage to see what the seal pups have been up against.

No responsible government would allow this hunt to go ahead given the circumstances, but the hunt is scheduled to open just days from now. Contact Stephen Harper today and tell him to shut down this hunt before it’s too late.

Thousands of Seal Pups Washed Away

© The HSUS

Right now in the Gulf of St. Lawrence baby seals are dying by the thousands. And the seal hunt has not even begun.

The pups must remain on sea ice until they are old enough to swim, but global warming is fast destroying their habitat. This year the ice formed late and, once it did, was very thin. Winter storms quickly broke up the ice, sweeping it – and more than 260,000 newborn seal pups – into the Atlantic Ocean.

High offshore winds and ocean swells continue to smash the remaining ice into tiny pieces. The seal pups, now just a few days old, are falling one by one into the water. The pups are not yet strong enough to swim, and they are dying.

Some believe hundreds of thousands of pups may perish before the seal hunt even begins.  Yet as the remaining pups cling to melting ice pans, the sealers prepare their boats to depart for another hunt

Today I fly to the ice floes to view this devastation firsthand. The HSUS will be on the front lines as this tragedy unfolds, bearing witness with our cameras. But we need your help to stop this slaughter for good.