Canada seal hunt marred by deadly boat accident
CAP-AUX-MEULES, Canada —
The annual Canadian seal hunt was marred Saturday by a boat accident in the ice-covered Gulf of St Lawrence that killed three of the boat’s crew and left another missing, officials said.
Of the six people aboard the Acadien, “three deceased members of the crew were recovered from the water” north of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, a spokesman for the Canadian coast guard told reporters.
“The fourth member remains missing,” while two other men were rescued by a nearby fishing vessel, he added.
The 12-meter trawler carrying seal hunters from the Magdalen islands capsized before dawn Saturday off Canada’s east coast, fisheries department spokesman Michel Plamondon said.
The boat flipped over while it was being towed back to port by the coast guard after encountering steering problems, according to local television reports.
Coast guard officials said the accident occurred at about 1:30 am Saturday.
The boat was on its way to the seal herds when it lost a rudder, prompting an SOS appeal to the coast guard.
An investigation of the accident was to be launched by Canada’s transport ministry, which said Saturday the Acadien had passed inspection at the beginning of the week.
Canada’s annual harvest of harp seals kicked off on Friday, with several boats setting off from this tiny town for the seal herds.
Plamondon said the close-knit sealers were devastated by news of the accident.
Only three or four boats remained at sea to pursue the hunt, with weather conditions expected to remain treacherous for the next two days, he added.
Several boats have been caught in ice up to 70 centimeters thick on the gulf this year, and the seal hunt started slowly Friday as a result.
One vessel was forced to return to port Friday after being slammed by huge chunks of ice.
Hunters routinely face shifting ice, high winds, freezing temperatures and unpredictable seas during the controversial sea hunt, which is often protested by animal rights groups.
Canada set the limit for this year’s harvest at 275,000 harp seals, 5,000 more than the previous year.
Some 800 seals were killed Friday, Plamondon said.
AFP
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23 Comments
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0
sincity
A superstitious mind might suggest that Mother Nature sealed their fate.
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rjd_jr
Now this is a prime example of the double standards that are held against Japan. Look at the world outrage and furor everywhere over Japan's whale hunt. Yet here is another hunt that is just as cruel and brutal, if not more, than what the Japanese whalers did, and yet hardly a peep from the world media. I read it here and there but nowhere near the level of the whale hunt. Using clubs to bludgeon helpless baby seals? Come on world, where is the equal outrage!
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Nessie
Sabotage by Novo Scotia Ordo Seclorum?
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sincity
rjd jr,
I certainly agree with you, but I think that the media frenzy associated with the seal hunt has simply burnt itself out. That debacle with Paul McCartney and Peg Leg was probably the nadir of that circus.
Also, don't forget, Canada is a predominantly white country, and so it is not as easy for the finger wagging underemployed bourgeois anthropomorphists to lord it over us as it is when they are chastising the Brown People for not being white enough.
Still, just what the hell are they doing with all those dead seals anyways? Surely nobody still wears seal skin?
Having said that, I am no more opposed to the seal hunt than I am to the whale hunt. Hell, they're like the racoons of the sea. A bit of a cull might not be a bad idea.
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nutsagain
Raccoons of the sea, huh? 'scuse me while I slip on my sealskin coat, crocodile boots and meet friends for turtle soup at the whale bar. The fact is both acts are barbaric and from another age. There's just no excuse for either in the present day. Raccoons of the sea indeed... So what are the whales? Elephants?
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Triumvere
"marred"?
Interesting choice of words. While no doubt a tragedy to the families involved, the Canadian Seal Hunt hardly has a pristine international reputation.
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Pukey2
karma retribution, courtesy of the pups?
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buddha4brains
I remember when the seal hunt protest was the whale hunt of its day. It was very successful. So successful in fact that the fast growing seal population helped in decimating the cod fisheries. Of course the longliners, trawlers, jiggers and the rest all did their part to wipe out the cod fishery. And just like those company fishing fleets, the bleeding heart celeb protesters never stopped to think through their actions. Can't really tell who is worse.
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cleo
I can't say I'll lose any sleep over the fate of a bunch of men who were on their way to bludgeon baby seals to death. karma. At least none of these intrepid hunters had the skins taken off their backs while they were still alive.
buddha4brains - Canada still kills hundreds of thousands of seals every year despite the protests. You call that a 'successful' protest?
0
outhousejt
There are enough seals. There are enough seals to hunt. The seal hunt is one of the oldest form of a commercial hunt of wild animals and despite the uproar there are enough seals to kill for their skin. This is a good example of how humans can utilize a natural renewable resources. Man taking the best of what nature has to offer without being too greedy.
With the human population increasing people are starting to talk about if it is sustainable for the planet to have this many people. There are rumours about population control.
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sincity
Are you suggesting that people are talking about sealing the fate of other people???
nutsagain,
Whales are the vaudevillians of the sea. Anybody who eats doughnuts knows that!
Nice post, btw. Agreed.
So, who the hell is wearing these bloodsoaked skins, anyways?
Hungarians?
Still, no shortage of seals, barabaric as it is.
And anybody who actually thinks that seals "decimated" cod stocks is too retarded to breathe.
We did that. All on our ownsome.
Chalk up one more for Hoomins.
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buddha4brains
cleo: I can never understand you types who weep over animals and not over humans. These men had families to feed. They were not breaking any laws, just working to make ends meet. You may not like seal hunting - I do not particularly like it - but why show such disrespect for the dead?
Yes, the protests were successful in limiting the hunt which has been heavily monitored to make sure the hunters comply with the law.
sincity: Not only can I breath I know that "breathe" is a noun and not a verb.
Back in the late 1980s there were reports stating that cod were decimating the cod. Perhaps that was propaganda. I did check on google and found that it probably was. Here's the link http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/sealhunt/
Though it seems that propaganda and misinformation is on both sides.
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cleo
'These men had families to feed.' Then they could have gone out and got themselves decent, regular jobs their kids could have been proud of their Dads doing, instead of trying to make a quick gory buck bashing the brains out of baby seals.
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conqueror_of_Uranus
With the same priciple applied, the same can be said about every livestock farmer, fisherman and herdsman. Killing animals for food and clothing doesn't seem to be leaving our evolution anytime soon.
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cleo
'every livestock farmer, fisherman and herdsman' doesn't kill by splashing brains all over the snow; nor do they proceed to take the skin regardless when their bashing hasn't killed the animal or even rendered it unconscious. Though do agree, a profession that involves regular killing (of animals or people) is hardly one to aspire to or encourage your children to take up.
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buddha4brains
cloe: In high school I had friends whose fathers worked in an abattoir where they slaughtered cattle. The first thing they had to do was to put a slug in the heads of the cattle so that they could skin them. They do this to put food both on their tables as well as society's table.
If thinking about killing animals is too squimish for you, then avoid it. Why disrespect the dead because you cannot stomach their legal jobs? These men are dead. Respect that fact.
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cleo
buddha4brains -
I can respect the fact that the men are dead. It's a fact, after all. I just can't bring myself to feel any sorrow for them.
Yes, they killed the animals humanely. That's the way it's supposed to be done. A very far cry from running around on the ice swinging clubs, leaving cubs injured and bleeding while they chase after the ones that are trying to get away, and skinning them while still conscious just to save a bit of time.
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flammenwerfer
While barbaric, I wouldnt quite compare it with whaling. The seal population is apparently exploding, they are not endangered like most whales species (despite the efforts of certain grops to tell us whales are not endangered)
If the oceans were jam packed with whales, I personally would be too upset if Norway Japan et al hunted some of them and vice versa if the Seals where endangered I would be concerned about the seal hunt.
Baby seals are cute with big round eyes and the thought of someone killing one especially by clubbing is abhorent by many, but would so many care if baby seals were ugly creatures?
If you find clubbing seals abhorrent, dont ever go to a slaughterhouse and see how cattle, pigs and sheep are "dispatched". People with double standards about killing animals makes me laugh. If you are a true PETA type who abhors the slaughter of any animal for human consumption then I respect your convictions and arguments a lot more than the "I like steak but clubbing cute seals is a disgrace crowd"
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Altria
The seal population is apparently exploding - literally! All over the ice!
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sukebeoyagi
They are gods creatures to do with what we want. Sorry to hear about this community's sad loss. Anyone who ventures out to sea in those conditions is a hero in my book. R.I.P.
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buddha4brains
cleo
Aside from sensationalist advocacy groups, where else did you hear that seal hunters run "around on the ice swinging clubs, leaving cubs injured and bleeding while they chase after the ones that are trying to get away, and skinning them while still conscious just to save a bit of time."
All people who I know who kill animals for a living or are avid hunters and fishers do not have the attitude you say the seal hunters have. I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt seal hunters are any less responsible than other hunters.
BTW I'm not a hunter or fisher. I am an eater, not a killer.
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cleo
http://www.stopthesealhunt.ca/site/c.jhKSIZPzEmE/b.2607991/k.B25F/StoptheSeal_Hunt__300000_Actions_for_300000_Seals.htm
Watch the video and then tell me that intrepid hunter wasn't running around on the ice clubbing the seal (repeatedly, yeah, just like they do in abattoirs...I counted 6 bashes on the one seal)
If you consider the IFAW a 'sensationalist advocacy group' (aren't all animal welfare groups, by definition?), perhaps you'll give more credence to the reports of two international veterinary panels:
• 179 seals were observed hunted. Ninety-six of these were shot; 56 were shot or clubbed; 19 were clubbed or gaffed [Note: neither gaffs nor boat hooks are legal instruments for killing seals in Canada], and 8 were killed by unknown means. • In 79% of cases, sealers did not check for a corneal reflex indicating that many of these seals potentially could have been skinned or hooked alive. • Only 6% were bled immediately after being struck. • 72 (40%) seals were shot or clubbed and left to suffer. • At least 30 seals were hooked while still alive. • At least 5 were bled alive. • At least 4 were skinned alive. From their examination of seal carcasses and video evidence, Burdon et al. (p. 1) concluded, “the hunt is resulting in considerable and unacceptable suffering”. ...
Burdon et al. found that 79% of the sealers they observed did not check for a corneal reflex. Daoust et al.’s figure was even higher – 87%. It is not surprising, therefore, that video records of Canada’s seal hunt for the years 1998-2001 inclusive all show numerous instances where animals were clubbed or shot and not rendered immediately unconscious. From the video evidence under review, the estimated proportion of animals in this category ranges from a minimum of 11% (Daoust et al.) to about 40% (Burdon et al.). If such percentages are at all typical of the Canadian hunt, they suggest that 26,000 to 96,000 harp seal pups annually are not rendered immediately unconscious after being clubbed or shot, but rather are left to suffer for some time before being killed.
Coincidentally or not, these figures are not very different from the data provided in Burdon et al. from post-mortem examination of skulls from seals killed in the hunt. If their results are in any way representative of the entire hunt, they would suggest that somewhere between 41,000 and 100,000+ animals are skinned while still conscious.
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/dfiles/file_512.pdf
Yes, I do believe you are. I wish you weren't.
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buddha4brains
Thanks Cleo. Ghastly indeed. Appreciate you passing on the data. I will definitely take another look at this issue.
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