http://www.k-litefm.com/news/14/690613/hun...+off+east+coast

Hunters, protesters take positions as annual seal hunt begins off East Coast

By: THE CANADIAN PRESS
CHARLOTTETOWN - A familiar scene is being played out on ice floes off Eastern Canada as sealers and seal hunt opponents take up their positions and ready their clubs and cameras for another season of tension on the ice.
About 16 boats carrying roughly 100 hunters headed out Friday from Iles de la Madeleine toward a large herd of seals in the Cabot Strait between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
At the same time, animal rights activists from such organizations as the Humane Society of the United States and the International Fund for Animal Welfare took to the skies in helicopters to observe and document the controversial hunt.
The Dutch-registered vessel, the Farley Mowat, owned by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, steamed toward the ice floes and was expected to be in position later in the weekend.
Animal rights crusader Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd group, said Canadian officials told the ship to turn around after it crossed the 200-mile limit on Friday.
He said the Farley Mowat ignored the warning.
"They have no right to restrict a foreign-registered vessel from free passage in the 200-mile economic exclusion zone," he said in an interview from Los Angeles.
He said he will fly to the Maritimes on Sunday to join the Farley Mowat and its crew.
"The more the minister (of fisheries) makes a fool of himself out there this year, the better it is for us," Watson said of federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn, who has warned Watson to steer clear of the hunt.
Officials with the federal Fisheries Department said the ice is thick this year in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where about 92,000 seals can be taken.
The largest part of the seal hunt begins in April off Newfoundland and Labrador, where sealers can kill more than 180,000 animals.
"The hunt has officially opened, but it's a very slow start," said Fisheries spokesman Phil Jenkins. "There is very heavy ice. The vessels from Iles de la Madeleine are slowly trying to make their way to a herd in the Cabot Strait area."
The heavy ice means the harp seals have had a good pupping season, unlike last year when sparse, thin ice caused a high rate of mortality.
Animal rights activists observing the hunt Friday insisted that at least some sealers didn't abide by a new regulation designed to make the hunt more humane.
Sealers are to follow a three-step process in killing a seal: striking or shooting the animal, then checking the eye-blink reflex or skull palpitations for signs of life, followed by bleeding the animal by severing arteries under the flippers.
"This new requirement of bleeding out is not being done," said Sheryl Fink of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
"One guy clubbed a seal and it escaped into the water, injured. ... It's the same as always. The hunters are rushing. They're not taking time. It's horrible out there."
Jenkins said seal hunters have accepted the new requirement to bleed the seals before skinning them - a move designed to end criticism that some animals are skinned alive.
Veteran sealer Mark Small of Wild Cove, Nfld., said older hunters have always bled out the seals because it improves the quality of the skins.
"In the last few years, everything has been so fast and people didn't take time to do the bleeding, but it adds quality to the pelt," Small said.
"I don't think that's going to be a problem. I haven't heard any major complaints about it. Most sealers have accepted the three-step process."
Small said he will head to Europe on Sunday with other Canadian officials and representatives of the sealing industry to make another pitch to European politicians to not ban Canadian seal products.
"There's no problem with the population and, as long as we continue to improve and train our sealers to respect the animal and make sure everything is done above board, I think they should take a serious look at it," Small said.
It's estimated there are more than five million animals in the East Coast harp seal herd.
The European Union is considering a ban on all seal products, having outlawed the sale of the white pelts in 1983.
Canada has not hunted the newborn, white-coat pups for years but most of the seals taken are no more than two months old.
Watson said the coming vote in Europe makes this seal hunt season especially important for animal rights groups.
"We have to focus attention on this issue," he said, adding that the 20-person crew of the Farley Mowat is predominantly European.

I truly hate this time of year, soley for this reason. Not much more to say about it, that hasn't already been beaten to death.

Nice pun!

Pun season is later, Dave.

Yep...and all it's ever done is show that there's nothing inherently wrong with clubbing seals.

Says who?

Still think a rifle works better; for PR reasons, if nothing else.

Economically, however, it is much more inefficient. Because I already own a tire iron.

*Sigh*

Why is it wrong?




Then machineguns should be best of all.

Grace


RF





It's brutal and inhumane. The end "product" not a necessity as food is. It's fueled by money. The carcasses are left to rot and most of these animals are helpless to escape. They're sitting ducks. And I believe many of them suffer. Why they call this a hunt is a mystery.

http://youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=/wa...v%3DvQTD1xyy_dU

Opinion.



Clothing is necessity.



So are you.



So? The carcasses aren't the goal. Being fair isn't a consideration.



Which would make them easier to hit with those clubs, thus more likely a quick death.



I believe all of them do, at some time or another and for some length of time.



Not to me. It fits the definition, though perhaps not various stereotypes.

How else to control their numbers then becomes a question.

I've never gone hunting with a machinegun. If it was set at semi-auto, I guess there should be no prob.

Why not set it to rock and roll?

Illegal.

You sure?

Doesn't matter anyway.

Can be made legal as easily as made illegal.

You can hunt at full auto in Canada?

No wonder people are willing to pay so much to head north.

I didn't say that. I asked if you were sure in your assertion...and noted that it was irrelevant anyway.

I guess you don't want to address that.

I missed that. Explain, please.

Explain what?

Go back and read. It's self explanatory far as I can see. But if you have more comprehension difficulties, I'll try to help you out.

You don't know what to explain?

Dang. we're in agreement.

Still can't hunt at full-auto down here, though.

Which is more irrelevance....wherever the fuck "down here" is.

Double-goody! Another poll!

Is there a forum just for all the polls? Is that in the 'topic's to be refurbished' or whatever that is?


!

No there ain't no pole smoker forum. Nor do I think it has been...or will be....considered as a possibility.

Sorry.

Not worth remembering, perhaps.

Not that that's ever stopped the concept before....

I believe that he could find entire boards to satisfy that urge. But it may have some "yucky stuff" on it. I'd advise against it.

Stay closeted, it's best for all of us.

I'm still trying to figure out what RF has got against polish-folk. Why would anyone wanna set them of fire?

What the hell.... Are you Polish on top of your other deficiencies?

No, I'm only polish when I see death-camp footage.

I can't think of anything I do on top my deficiencies.

Probably a good thing.

Uh...you don't do that dress up fantasy shit like that F1 president that was just busted out, do you?

What's a f1?

Formula 1.

A auto-racer dresses up as a death-camp victim?

That's weird.

So, will Gilligan be doing a 'seal-wars' mini-series?

The megalomaniac knows more money comes in from playing the seal issue for all it's worth so I suspect he is on the way to crucify the sealers..


Indymedia
Sea Shepherd Returns From the Whale Wars
After Months of Sparring, Anti-Whalers Withdraw to Prepare for Future Battles
Mon Feb 16 2009
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/16/18571182.php

Since December, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been pursuing
and disrupting whaling operations by a Japanese fleet that illegally
hunts whales in the waters around Australia and the Antarctic seas
under the guise of "research." Confrontations included the Sea Sheperd
ship, the Steve Irwin, lobbing rotten butter onto the decks of the
whaling ships as well as directly ramming whaling ships on the open
seas at times. The whalers in turn have used sonic weapons to
retaliate against the crew of the Steve Irwin. After three months of
operations attempting to prevent the illegal whaling, the Sea Sheperd
crew are returning to better prepare for future battles with the
whalers.

Captain Paul Watson summarizes recent events: "I have said always said
that we would do everything we can short of hurting people to end
illegal whaling in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. We have done
everything we could with the resources available to us this year. We
have shut down their illegal operations for over a month in total. We
have cost them money and we have saved the lives of a good many
whales. And although we are willing to take the risks required, even
to our own lives, I am not prepared to do to the Japanese whalers what
they do to the whales and the escalating violence by the whalers will
result in some serious injuries and possibly fatalities if this
confrontation continues to escalate."

I guess Watson ran into the long arm of the law & is going to have to make new plans. Apparently the Aussie's seized his Ship logs and his videos.Because,they show him ramming the Japanese boat that they didn't want to hurt anybody on. Like that message could fly when they title a film "Steve Irwin, Ramming Japanese whaler."


Watson's communique blantently states on http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/16/18571182.php Confrontations included the Sea Shepherd ship, the Steve Irwin, lobbing rotten butter onto the decks of the whaling ships as well as directly ramming whaling ships on the open seas at times.

videoVideo: Ramming the Japanese whaling ship | Sea Shepherd collides with whaling harpoon ship | Whalers use acoustic weapon on Sea Shepherd in High Seas Confrontations





http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/16/18571182.php Confrontations included the Sea Sheperd ship, the Steve Irwin, lobbing rotten butter onto the decks of the whaling ships as well as directly ramming whaling ships on the open seas at times.

Can't you just feel the love. Not love taps for sure. What were they trying to do? Sink it a little bit???



Now the Aussies have made a move on the sea pirate. The Canadians did the same to Fartly Mowet and it is still under arrest.

February 21, 2009 06:22am



Police swoop on protest ship

ANNE MATHER

February 21, 2009 12:00am

POLICE boarded the anti-whaling ship Steve Irwin when it arrived in Hobart last night and confiscated the ship's log book and video footage.
The film depicts some of the most dramatic whale-killing scenes ever seen, crew on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship said.

After violent clashes with Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, the Steve Irwin was met by Australian Federal Police when it docked in Hobart about 5.30pm.

The police, who had search warrants, kept the crew on board as they searched cabins.

Steve Irwin captain Paul Watson said he was not told whether the police action stemmed from a complaint by the Australian Government or from the Japanese.

He said the Steve Irwin had never been searched before but he would welcome any charges that led to the crew facing a court.

"My position is that if they want to put me on trial for anything connected with this, then I am happy to do it," Capt Watson said.

"We are not there protesting, we are down there to stop a blatantly criminal activity, to stop whaling in a whale sanctuary.

"These actions have to go to court somewhere, so let's start it here."

Capt Watson said the conservationists had risked their lives during the campaign and were willing to risk their freedom.

He said the campaign had ended four days earlier than intended because it was clear the Japanese whalers were "out of control".

"They were frustrated, violent and attacking us," he said.

"I didn't want to get any of them killed or any of us killed."

The Australian Federal Police could not be contacted by the Mercury last night, though Tasmania Police confirmed federal officers met the ship.

The Steve Irwin was involved in its most extreme and dangerous clashes this season, culminating with the activist vessel crashing into the stern of the Yushin Maru 3 on February 7.

Capt Watson's crew said they were pelted with scrap metal, blasted with high-powered water canons and attacked with military-grade sonic weapons.

Tasmanian crew member Andrew Perry said the video footage was harrowing because the Japanese whalers had become more brazen by the end of the hunting season and for the first time slaughtered a whale in full view of the Steve Irwin.

Mr Perry said the footage, taken from the ship's helicopter, showed a whaler's explosive-tipped harpoon piercing a whale.

"The whale was then pulled alongside the (Japanese) boat and it was shot seven times with a shotgun."

He said the helicopter crew, filming for TV documentary show Animal Planet, then saw the whale thrashing and could hear it screaming.

Mr Perry said the slaughter took more than 20 minutes.

"It was an incredibly distressing thing to behold," he said.

"We have never been able to get footage like that before. It's going to be damning."

Mr Perry, of Hobart, said one of the reasons the Steve Irwin had concluded the campaign and returned to Hobart was because they had heard the Japanese had deployed a security vessel to track down the activists and seize the footage.

"We heard they had a commando boarding team whose objective was to find us and board us," he said.

Mr Perry, 39, drove one of the Steve Irwin's small runabouts during the campaign and was often in the frontline.

He said the 6.5m rigid inflatable boats were "like a mosquito pestering an elephant" when up against the 80m whaling boats.

He feared for his life when whalers tried to ram his small vessel and attack him with acoustic blasters and water canons.

"They threatened to crush us in between the Steve Irwin and their boat," he said. "It was a scary moment. There was no regard for our individual safety."

He said the Sea Shepherd crew never intended to harm any of the whalers but simply to pester them and act as a deterrent.

He said a tactic of the activists was to throw putrefied butter-bombs on to the whaling vessels, to taint the whale meat and render it worthless.

"We are always mindful to make sure we don't throw near any crew, we don't want to harm crew," he said.
what is this?

Oh, dear. Whatever will the poor seals do now?

Get back to the business of being seals that are both predator and prey. Maybe they are smart enough to know that a million less seals will mean that the remaining seals have a better success ratio of not starving.