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Dear Sir,

To quote the recent letter by Andrew Clarke: "While the sight of "helpless" baby seals who "don't know what to be afraid of" makes for sympathetic eco-grandstanding [Vessel rammed while protesting seal hunt, Bermuda Sun April 9], I wonder if Ms [Laura] Dakin and those aboard the Farley Mowat feel the same about the harvesting of all other forms of animal meat/products? Or only the cute seals?"

I think that if Mr. Clarke did his homework, he would find that I, along with all of the other Farley Mowat crew feel exactly the same anger and disappointment at the unnecssary slaughter of any sentient being.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society actively works to protect ALL marine wildlife - from whales to seals to cod fish to sea cucumbers. One would hardly call a cod fish cute and cuddly now would they? The protection of harp seals is simply one of our campaigns, and a very important one at that. The harp seal slaughter is the single largest slaughter of a marine mammal in the world. 

He may also note that in my own spare time I campaign consistantly againt the meat and dairy industry. However, Paul Watson's Sea Shepherd is a marine conservation society... not an animal rights group. 

"One of the main reasons seal hunt protesters get so up in arms and passionate about saving the little pups is that they are cute and cuddly looking." 

Cute and cuddly

Mr. Clarke keeps mentioning this... does he have a problem with cute and cuddly animals? Does he disagree with the protection of human children, moon bears in china, or dogs bred for meat in japan? Most people would agree that they all fall into the cute and cuddly

category...

"I hardly believe she or anyone else speaking out about this centuries old, regulated livelihood has ever stepped foot on a farm to complain about cows, pigs and so on being slaughtered. Or interfered with the livelihood of, say, fishermen off Bermuda's shores plying their catch. The aim of these harvests is exactly the same as that of the sealers. And the end result of that harvest is also the same. Dead animals for human consumption."

  Once again Mr. Clarke needs to do his research. The seal slaughter is not a regulated livelihood. It is illegal to film or witness the hunt. Seal populations were decimated in the 1950s and 60s due to the government allowing 340,000 babys to be killed; the seal populations have never recovered. The commercial slaughter of baby harp seals is not for human consumption of seal flesh, but for the skins and the skins only. The carcass of the seal is thrown overboard. I'VE watched as seals are beaten, kicked, slashed and skinned alive. Can this abuse be described as an acceptabe livelihood? 

"So unless Ms Dakin and her crew are complete vegetarians (as chef, perhaps she only cooks non-animal dishes for the crew), or they plan to barricade any of the island's abattoirs (should any still exist) with equal vim and vigour, they would be best to see sealers as honest, hard working folk who are providing for their families."

There is nothing honest about causing pain and abuse to defenseless animals. There is nothing acceptable about taking part in the extinction of not only a species, but threatening the survival of an entire ecosystem.

Slaughter

This is exacty what sealers are taking part in by slaughtering hundreds of thousands of seals whose species is already under severe threat due to overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction and global warming. Sealers have been offered alternatives to killing seals and have refused saying "real men kill". Sealers are ruthless, cruel and barbaric.

I am not a vegetarian. The dairy industry is one of the most cruel and destructive industries that exist in the world today. I am a vegan who dedicates my life to protecting all animals, no matter what they look like. 

"As for the Farley Mowat, what Ms Dakin fails to reveal about her ship is that she was found to be the vessel in the wrong. The so-called "ramming" she received was as a result of her captain violating the vessel's licensed observation limits. Not the other way around."

We were rammed by the Canadian Coast Guard on two different occasions. At NO time was our vessel inside of the Canadian 12-mile limit. We are a Dutch-registered vessel operating in international waters and as such, the Canadian Coast Guard had no authority to ram and board our ship. 

...The seals have no one but us to protect them. And being in the ice is a reasonable risk to take if it brings attention to the barbaric blood sport slaughter of harp seals. A slaughter that has no place in the 21st century.

Laura Dakin

Chief Cook, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

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