Tell Canada It Has No Excuses Left For Seal Hunt

Evidence from a new study found that harp seal pups in the North Atlantic are dying at an alarming rate due to the effects of climate change. The news prompted calls to Canada from around the world, telling the country it has run out of excuses to continue its annual commercial hunt that brutally kills hundreds of thousands of seals.

For decades Canada has pitted itself against animal activists using weak excuses to hunt harp seal pups for their fur in the name of conservation or economic rights, but the new study shows the seals are in a state of crisis and tosses out any of their previous justifications.

Scientists from Duke University tracked satellite records of sea ice in the harp seal breeding grounds in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from 1992 to 2010. They found the winter sea ice was thinning and decreasing in the area. Then they compared the yearly reports of dead seal pups in the region and the numbers were devastating. The study was funded by International Fund for Animal Welfare.

“The kind of mortality we’re seeing in eastern Canada is dramatic,” said David Johnston, research scientist at Duke University Marine Lab. “Entire year classes may be disappearing from the population in low ice years. Essentially all of the pups die.”

Even the Canadian government agrees with the study. The department of fisheries and oceans suspects that up to 80 percent of the seal pups born in 2011 died because of a lack of ice.

Female harp seals depend on stable winter ice floes to give birth and nurse their young. The pups live on the ice until they are big enough to hunt on their own. Seals typically seek out the thickest patches of sea ice each February and March.

Johnston explained the seals are able to adapt to minor changes in ice conditions, but didn’t know if they would be able to move to new breeding grounds, such as those off Greenland.

“There’s only so much ice out there and declines in the quantity and quality of it across the region, coupled with the earlier arrival of spring ice breakup, is literally leaving these populations on thin ice,” said Johnston.

Call To Action: Tell Canada It Has No Excuses Left For Seal Cull

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Photo from claudiah via flickr.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Terri H.

9:49PM PDT on Mar 11, 2012

''SIGNED''...CANADA...STOP KILLING THE SEALS, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!!!!

send a green star

Cecilie D.

9:44PM PST on Mar 9, 2012

With seals washing up dead....Still the Canadian Government continues its war on seals. Man is waging war on Nature, and man is winning.

Judy B.

8:14PM PST on Mar 9, 2012

I think we have begged and pleaeded with Canada enough. Of course they have no excuse but still do it. The thrill of the hunt or they call it, to club a tiny helpless creature who cant run away but has to lay there and be clubbed and skinned alive in front of its mother. Barbaric is a term I dont like using its more sadistic. These so called hunters are just blood thirsty sad humans looking for something to kill. I have been donating for years to stop the killing and it seems it has only gotten worse. No amount of money will save these poor creatures. If Canada doesnt see the wrong its doing no petition is going to stop them. I dont buy canadian products. Maybe if we hit them in their wallet they would see we mean business!

Teresa C.

5:17AM PST on Mar 9, 2012

Signed the petition.
Hopefully, now the slaughter will stop! If they still want to slaughter, I suggest they turn on each other--seems fair to me!

Jane H.

4:24AM PST on Mar 9, 2012

These "clubbings," are barbaric... Senseless..... Only a coward picks on animals and women!!

Kye J.

2:43AM PST on Mar 9, 2012

Tavi L you are out voted on this topic.There is no excuse for the barbaric seal masacure.Become civilised.You obviously have zero compassion for animals

helga g.

2:34AM PST on Mar 9, 2012

Please Canada stop the killing of seals, they are beautiful animals and deserve to live, is barbaric, cruel and heartless, Canada should be proud of this animals in instead of killing them protect them. Canada justify their actions as culture or tradition but to what extent do animals have to endure suffering and extinction for the sake of culture or tradition? culture is no justification for the killing of animals and that not only affects the species but the ecosistem as a whole. and greed is the main factor. Please stop, the world is watching this cruel barbaric killings, please stop. have compassion for seals, polar bears, wolves and all animals.

Tavi L.

6:29PM PST on Mar 8, 2012

It saddens me to see such a large number of people commenting who know utterly nothing about this topic. Couple it with an idiot writer who still has not heard about the "Global Warming" being nothing but a political funding tool and a lot of people end up receiving really bad information. How many of the commenters have ever lived with aboriginal people in Canada, been on a seal hunt, or know anything about it apart from what they are told by idiotic hollywood actors?

Debbie C.

5:19AM PST on Feb 3, 2012

I signed the petition. Seal hunting needs to stop, NOW.

Sarah M.

4:25PM PST on Jan 29, 2012

Thank you. Petition signed.