More frustrating news has come this morning.
April 4, 2007/© The HSUS
We woke at 5:30 a.m., ready to depart for the ice floes. But our pilots called with bad news: a storm front is moving in to this area, and for the next few hours at least, our helicopters will be unable to fly.
Just 45 miles off of Canada's East Coast, seal hunters are clubbing and shooting the seal pups with no witnesses. Here, the ProtectSeals team is tense, willing the weather to clear. Documenting this slaughter is a tremendous logistical undertaking - and our success depends on so many factors beyond our control. This year has been particularly difficult, with the Canadian government trying its level best to block observation and the hunt occurring in very remote areas. Right now, we all need some luck.
April 5, 2007/© The HSUS
Yesterday's trip to the seal hunt was devastating. We saw so many sealers clubbing seals on the side of the face or the neck instead of their skulls. Others were shot but not killed, and they were left to suffer. So many animals were still struggling as they were hooked and dragged across the floes.
Fisheries officials were stationed on a Coast Guard vessel in the area, but we did not see them monitor the hunting. Instead, they stopped us, and told us to move even farther away because our presence was "upsetting" the sealers.
It has become clear over the years that my government has claimed our Canadian oceans for the sealing industry. Although my family still lives in this province, I do not have the same rights as a seal hunter when in Newfoundland waters. A hunter buys a $5 permit and is free to hunt for the season without interference. To observe the hunt, I must obtain a $25 observation permit, which must be renewed every day. I am subjected to a criminal background check, and the permit is issued at the whim of our Minister of Fisheries and Oceans - a Newfoundlander who is openly biased in favour of the seal hunt.
Without witnesses, the seal hunters can continue to brutalize these pups without repercussion. The seals deserve our best efforts. So when the weather clears, we will return to the seal hunt area immediately. We are all standing by waiting for the next weather update.
Rebecca Aldworth, The HSUS director of Canadian Wildlife Issues, grew up in Newfoundland and has been a longtime observer of the Canadian seal hunt. Follow along as she documents her ninth trip to the ice and faces the cruelty firsthand.
