Seal killer and "national hero" Nikolai Hemmingsen brutally hooks a baby harp seal. Archive Photo: Sea Shepherd

These beautiful and gentle creatures have the unfortunate status of annually suffering the largest slaughter of any marine mammal species on the planet.


WHY THE SLAUGHTER? 
Why Harp seals, one may ask?

What is it about this particular species of animal that has made it the target of such an intense campaign of slaughter every year for hundreds of years?

The answer is complex and varies depending on the time of history being discussed.

The exploitation and commercial slaughter of the harp seal is one of the most tragic stories ever known to mankind, and in particular, to people who care about such things. Before the advent of "modern technology" and hunting methods, the harp seal was an honored animal playing an invaluable role in the very existance of human beings on the eastern seaboard of Canada. Fur, meat, and bone were utilized in every conceivable fashion by the native peoples and were necessary for sustaining daily life in the arctic...

Live Harp seal baby- Photo: Sea Shepherd

Although the SUSTAINABLE killing of harp and hooded seals for food and fur had indeed been occuring for thousands of years by native peoples of northern lattitudes, the most recent 300 years brought about a new reason for killing harp seals: COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION, and with that, the end to any shred of earlier, necessity from sealing.

An incessant desire and greed for the profits to be made from the seal's oil and pelts drove many men and businesses into a pathetic circle of death and despair for most involved. (Sealing was an extremely dangerous business throughout history and many sealers lost their lives while pursuing their sealing livelihood.)

Only a few aristocratic families earned immense wealth and profits from the hard work and uneducated despair of the average man trying to earn a living the only way he thought he knew how... from the slaughter of seals.

See the "History of the seal hunt in North America- 16th century to present"- (Webpage- PAGOPHILUS.ORG)
   
The "Seal Wars" of the past 3 decades changed the landscape of the once strong commercial market. Thanks to the hard work and creativity of a few hardcore activists and volunteers (click here to see who did what and when), the European ban on whitecoat pelt imports (1983, 1987) had a dramatic impact on the number of seals killed and the commercial market as a whole.

In fact, in 1987, the Canadian seal pelt market was at a point near death (not commercially sustainable) until the government stepped in with their subsidies to bolster up the struggling business. (With hundreds of thousands of pelts stored and rotting in wharehouses in Canada and Norway, there were simply not enough buyers for the pelts). In addition, since there never was a commercial demand for the meat, the few pounds of meat actually processed went to the pet food market, fur farms, and a few specialty sausage brands.

But the Canadian government was undeterred. The government worked hard and spent millions on developing new markets. They soon exploited a loophole in the European ban on whitecoat pelts by banning the killing of the less-than-14-day-old seals (whitecoats) and sending sealers out to kill seals once they started to molt. At this point, they become ragged jackets; and, once they finish molting (after a few weeks), they become "beaters." The markets for their pelts were bolstered, and the prices for these pelts are at their highest ever today.

To learn more about today's modern day sealers, see our "ANALYSIS OF A HUNTER" SECTION.

Skinned Harp seal baby (meat not used) Photo: Sea Shepherd

THE HARSH REALITY OF THE KILL:
Todays modern seal "hunt" isn't really much of a hunt at all... In fact, depending on the condition of the ice flows, the sealers can have varying degrees of difficulty in getting to the seals. Methods include: walking from their trucks, driving up to them with their snowmobiles, taking commercial icebreaking boats to distant ice flows, then getting out of the boats and walking to them, or shooting seals from the larger ships or smaller boats.      

Once they find the seals, the true horrific nature of this bizarre event unfolds. The "hunter" usually tries to dispatch the seal before killing and skinning them (a "regulation" put forth by the ever caring government to appease the "fokking seal lovers") . The methods include: kicking in the face and/ or beating the babies on the head with clubs or hakapiks. Then the sealer proceeds to skin the animal.

The facts show that about 40% of the seals are actually skinned alive. Adults and resisting mothers are shot and/ or clubbed and skinned and when adult males are killed (less common since the advent of Viagra), have their penis bones removed. Rarely, some of the bodies are then recovered and processed into pet food or used to feed the animals in fur farms.

Kill rates in recent years have been so high that they rival the killing that took place during the 50's and 60's, when the seal population plunged to dangerously low levels.

IF YOU HAVE THE STOMACH FOR IT, SEE THE STILL PHOTO ARCHIVES OF THE SEAL SLAUGHTER NOW
(Recommended for all)  

AND DON'T MISS THE VIDEO FOOTAGE. (It's reality)
  

Slaughtered seals- Photo: IFAW

So why then do they do it?
What IS the purpose and reason for the continued killing?   
The simple answer is "for their pelts"- but it isn't surprising for those who study such things that the full truth behind the reasons for the modern day Harp seal slaughter are much more complex and sinister.

A few words that come into play when attempting an explanation are: vanity, commercial greed, political scapegoats, and bloodlust.

The basic travesty is as follows:

[ DUE TO YEARS OF OVERFISHING, INEPT DFO MANAGEMENT (department of Fisheries and Oceans), AND UN-ENFORCED REGULATIONS, Canada suffered a near total collapse of the once bountiful COD FISHERY on their Eastern seaboard in the early 1990's.

Canadian Atlantic Fisheries Collapse (Article & credit: Greenpeace website)

Over 40,000 people lost their jobs. The marine ecosystem is still in a state of collapse.

This collapse of a once great industry had the much forewarned effect (by many scientists and activists who saw it coming for years) of putting great numbers of Eastern Canadian fisherman out of work and into financial hardship, looking for answers and alternatives.

Things were looking pretty bleak until a few clever Newfoundland politicians came up with an ingenious plan: they would use the harp seal herds as the official explanation for the collapse of the fish stocks and at the same time sell the idea of using the seals as an economic alternative to the cod. And so they started selling the propaganda of "the seals were eating all the cod" to the frustrated fisherman, (the sealers), and most bought it (excuse the pun), hook, line, and sinker. ]

It was at this time the highest quotas in the history of the seal hunt (up until that time) were introduced to the eager out of work fishermen.

For a better understanding of how and why this propaganda works, please see the POLITICS, PROPAGANDA & CULTURE section of this website.

Although the amount of Cod that Harp seals eat is a debatable issue, no matter what the numbers are, the fact of the matter is agreed by all credible scientists and biologists involved: the seals didn't cause the fishery collapse and the seals aren't going to keep it from coming back!

Interestingly, in 2005, EVEN THE DFO NOW REFUTES ITS OWN PREVIOUS PROPAGANDA AND ADMITS THAT THE SEALS DIDN'T CAUSE THE COLLAPSE OF THE COD FISHERY!
(yes, its true... although hard to locate and constantly changing locations on their website, they will now reluctantly state this un-arguable fact as needed to appease powerful scientists or a hungry media in times of political necessity)...

...but the damage is done and, sadly, MOST SEALERS STILL BELIEVE IT!

Credible biologists know that healthy fisheries need healthy seal populations to prosper.
 
Marine Ecosystem Basics: (Excerpt from "Seal Wars" by Paul Watson)

Harp seals and cod - questions and answers: (Article & Credit: IMMA website)

Who killed the cod and what should we do about it? (Article & credit: IMMA website)
 

Another day in the life... Photo: IFAW

And to make the matter even more tragic and pathetic, the government propaganda machine even now continues to dupe the stubborn and ignorant sealing population (much the same way the rich sealing families did to the uneducated poor "working sealers" for so many years) into believing that sealing is the only way they can earn a living for their families.

Although the MAJORITY OF THE CANADIAN PUBLIC OPPOSE THE SEAL KILL, and there have been numerous viable alternatives offered to the seal "harvest" in the past 20 years, (like ecotourism and the bedding industry utilizing seal hairs as a form of high quality "down"), the government just isn't listening, much less interested...

... but such is Canadian fisheries politics...

Seal hunt opponents think they should be. Another reason: Harp Seal Population likely declining-
(Article: (IMMA) International Marine Mammal Association)

And there is one more modern day reason for sealing: The seal penis bone. The seal penis bone was for several years more valuable than the price of a first grade pelt. Asian businesses eagerly sought out the seal penis bones as aphrodiasics for a booming quack industry commonly utilizing rare or endangered animal parts. (proven by countless scientific studies to be non-effective.)

These black market businesses contracted with shady Canadian fisheries businesses skilled in trafficking these animal parts- while the government vehemently denied it's even happening. Since "erectile dysfunction" drugs came to market, the market for seal penis bones has declined dramatically.