Growing up in New England, and having spent many summer days on the coast, I have seen my fair share of seals. They are curious and playful and down right adorable. One summer, I was camping off the coast of Maine – you had to canoe out to the island and back – which was most everyday for grocery essentials. This island was located in a very sheltered inlet – the surface was extrememly calm so you could see everything popping up and down in the water – including the seals. A couple of the seals would follow the canoe – at a short distance – from the island to the mainland – swimming this way and that.
Well, I will freely admit that that is about the extent of my seal knowledge.
Every year, fishermen in Canada are allowed to club Harp seals to death in the areas between Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s about to happen again this year – and the Humane Society of the United States is working to make 2006 the last year. It’s worth a read and a cause most definitely worth supporting.
I’m gonna warn you – some of the images, footage and sounds are quite disturbing.
The Humane Society of the United States
Protect Seals.org
It is, and as a Canadian I am disgusted at the lack of morality and common sense perpetrated by sealers, politicians and other seal hunt supporters. The denial is unreal. But I am writing to mention that it will probably take place far sooner and that one smaller hunt already took place. Grey seals were hunted this year in spite of losing 75% of pups born this year. They were further hit as sealers took an additional 220 illegally from a wilderness preserve with the blessing of the department of fisheries and oceans.