By Kirsten Johnson

This Hunter with Slash and Hack Until the Defenseless Pup is Dead

Knowing that the Canadians opened their bloody Seal hunting season on March 3, 2011 has been tough to live with. I can’t help but flash to the dying seal pups as they look to their murders for sympathy only to have a hunter smile as he clubs the babe and then skins he or she alive. What for? The Chinese want to wear baby seal? According to Captain Watson of the Sea Shepherds the Canadians are only shooting themselves in the foot. “”Those who support the theory that seals are destroying the fish are only exposing their ignorance of ecological systems. The reasoning that less seals will result in more fish or that more seals will deplete existing fish populations is an unscientific belief because it is a belief not backed by observation or data. (“Seal Wars- Twenty Five Years on the Front Lines with the Harp Seals”- Firefly Books, Copyright 2003, Paul Watson)

He goes onto discuss the ecological implications of the seal hunt and how it really effects the fishing industry,

“When harp seals eat in herds, the return massive amounts of nutrients in the form of fecal material, which feeds the plankton, which feed the fish, which in turn feed the seals. The removal of this nutrient base would be critical to the health of plankton and fish populations.”(“Seal Wars- Twenty Five Years on the Front Lines with the Harp Seals”- Firefly Books, Copyright 2003, Paul Watson)
“The migrating seal herds, and other marine mammals, move nutrient wealth in a way no other force can: in giant north-south loops and from great depths to the surface. By going through regular periods of gorging and feasting, seals provide large amounts of nutrients at key times of the year. The combination of the seal supplied nutrients in the area where the Labrador Current meets the Gulf Stream of Mexico is responsible for the great fish grounds of the Grand Banks. Reference to the logs of captain Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, and John Cabot illustrate that at the time of the greatest number of seals prior to European exploitation, the fish were so abundant that Cabot described the Grand Banks as “so swarming with fish that they could be taken but in baskets let down with a stone.”((“Seal Wars- Twenty Five Years on the Front Lines with the Harp Seals”- Firefly Books, Copyright 2003, Paul Watson)

The world is condemning this practice. To watch a baby seal pup try to scurry away from a hunter on the ice is heart breaking. Here we sit in our warm homes enjoying food, and entertainment while at that very moment a Harp or Gray seal is being clubbed, shot, or hacked to death. How can this behavior on the part of man be right. When will man evolve beyond raping the ocean and murdering her children.

Follow the direct link below and ask  the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper  to end this needless bloodshed. Tell him that it is time to stop this campaign of cruelty for the profit of a few bloody thirsty money hungry Seal Hunters.

http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/contact.asp

If you still want to argue sustainability, if you have some small inkling of belief inside that this is OK and must be done for some twisted reason then you need to watch the graphic video below made by the Humane Society.