Monday, April 13, 2009

Dead Seals at Conrad's Beach

Dead seals at Conrad's Beach over in Lawrencetown are currently making the news - it's got the anti-sealing enthusiasts going crazy, and making people who never go to the beach go over to Conrad's beach go there so that they can have a look around and take in the morbid view.

People are saying that they haven't seen anything like it in 60 year's - which is interesting. I wrote a post here in October 2004 called "Who's shooting the seals off Sambro Head" and then in February 2005 I wrote a post "another dead seal at Conrad's today"- because it seemed like everytime I went to Conrad's - there were always at least a couple dead seals there - and when I went there on this particular day - there were 3 on that day - and there appeared to be bullet holes in these carcasses.

I wasn't able to make it over to Conrad's this Easter weekend, and I really wanted to - because it's one of my favourite beaches in all of metro for walking the dogs - hopefully I'll get over there before I leave for Washington at the end of the month - because I'd really like to see if you can make out whether or not there's any bullet holes in these bodies - and the dogs could use a good rub on a dead seal - they haven't had one of those in a long time. They'd LOVE that - and what dog wouldn't?

But anyway - for people who go to Conrad's beach regularly - dead seals are a regular vision there - maybe 30 seals is a lot - I've seen as many as 5 or 6 there at a time - I guess maybe the fishermen are particularly pissed off currently, or they found a whole bunch at once and had a lot of ammunition.

Grey seals are different than harp seals - which are the ones that are bludgeoned in the famous "seal hunt" that HSUS and PETA make all their money off of every year about this time - HSUS and PETA don't make any money off of grey seals, so they aren't too concerned about these guys. The Grey Seal Conservation Society has a website at http://www.greyseal.net/

If you're interested in reading my other posts about seals, you can click on my category - "seals"

Some doubt seals killed by sea ice

By The Canadian Press
Mon. Apr 13

Some people living near Conrad Beach are raising questions about the deaths of about two dozen seals that washed ashore last week.

Allan MacLean, a spokesman for the federal Fisheries Department, has said the harp seals were likely crushed by shifting chunks of sea ice.

But Lynda Conrad said Sunday she doubted that assessment, saying she had never seen a similar incident in the 60 years she’s lived near the beach.

"There’s no way that they can say that these seals have been caught on ice packs because they don’t all lose their heads," she told CTV.

Video images show several seals with what appear to be head injuries. One seal appears to have lost its entire head, though that damage could have been caused by scavenging gulls.

Earlier, MacLean said the injuries suggested the animals were crushed by ice.

"Most often, the trauma from ice kills is in the head area," he told The Chronicle Herald. "It is not unusual. It happens really frequently in Cape Breton."

The carcasses started washing ashore last Thursday.

Another local resident, Luke Acker, said he wants to know if someone killed the seals.

"I think that a lot of people who enjoy the ocean are going to wonder what is going on," he told CTV.

"We want to see a firm response from the government and some serious action taken. And if this (was caused by) human hands, we want to see someone prosecuted."

Experts at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography are expected to examine some of the carcasses later this week.

13 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:38 PM

    It's funny your cynical comment that HSUS and PETA don't care about grey seals considering they are all over this "cull" in the media. Are you one of these hypocritical pet owners that support the seal hunt on one hand yet are outraged when a dog is clubbed by someone or a cat is microwaved?

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  2. Anonymous - you are funny! If you follow the link in post about to my "seal" posts you'll quickly figure out my views on the seal hunt - I view the sealing industry as just that - an animal killing industry like all the others - except for the fact that it's an abbatoire without walls.

    I'm sure that there is a cow killing abbatoire wherever you live - maybe you should go there and check it out and see how humane that is and what you think of that - and see how you feel like eating beef after that - or maybe you should go to a chicken killing factory in your neighbourhood. Do you wear any leather product?

    Give me a break.

    I'm not in the mood for yahoos like you. Kindly fuck off. You are obviously not a regular reader of this blog - this tome has seen a lot of shit in the last several months and I'm not in the mood.

    Joan

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  3. Anonymous9:05 PM

    It never ceases to amaze me how man can justify his brutality. The cod and the seals lived in balance for thousands of years until man came along. Man enters the equation and every thing else suffers(beavers and buffaloes in Canada's early days).For fisherman to blame the seals for the demise of the fish stocks is ..... what's the word I'm looking for?RG.

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  4. But that's the way it is with almost all species on the earth as it relates to their relationship with human beings, RG. You could say that with things as small as ants, and worms. I was outside where I work one day having a smoke and we were right next to a little ant hill and the ants were working very hard at digging out the dirt to make the insides bigger and one of my co-workers decided that they would take their foot and just mush it all up and completely demolish the ant hill - in one fell swoop he completely screwed up 100's - maybe 1000's of ants' lives - for what? One moment of mean satisfaction.

    How many times does that happen on a smaller and humungously huger level in regards to humans and animals in this world on a moment to moment basis world wide every moment on this earth? Millions of times every year, I am sure. We are living in a hellish realm, RG.

    Joan

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  5. Anonymous10:16 PM

    A couple of the seals did have bullet wounds.

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  6. Anonymous11:09 PM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6d6VzMpKaM

    http://www.greyseal.net/dead_seal_gallery.htm


    http://www.antisealingcoalition.ca/GreySeals/port_hood_seal_beating.php

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  7. Colonel Sanders2:15 AM

    Yeah HSUS is all hyper over the Seal "cull".
    They use the photos of the cute white pups(don`t think those are even killed anymore) to reel in the donations but they could care less about the Great Canadian Pit Bull "cull"

    Check out Hypocrite Extraordinaire Wayne Pacelle`s blog
    http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2009/04/fur_is_down.html

    [quote]Look closely at our website, and you’ll see other victims of the grim fur trade—including Canada’s baby seals. I warn you, however, these images are very graphic and disturbing. But to not show them would be to spare the Canadian government the shame it deserves for sponsoring this bloody slaughter that is underway as I write these words.[/quote]

    I left a comment asking if HSUS might give a crap about Canadian Pit Bulls if they were hauled out and shot on ice floes rather than killed "neatly" in a back room with the juice but he didn`t post it.

    Thought he might have liked to comment about the Gov`ts shame on that one but nope.

    Dead doggies in Freezers just don`t bring in the cash like those photos of the white coat pups.

    PeTA and HSUS are sickening hypocrites.
    Would love to know what they`re doing with the millions they bring in from suckers because they`re sure not helping animals.

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  8. Anonymous11:09 AM

    Fishermen-dead seals. Fishermen-missing cats.RG

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  9. Call me a landlocked idiot - but if fishermen shoot baby seals cause they eat fish wouldn't big poppa seals eat way more fish? Not that I am in favor to kill any seals - seal hunt is abhorrent, like, as Joan so correctly stated, any other exploitation of animals in the name of science, food, fashion and sports - or in the case of the ants actions of twisted minded people.
    It's just that the excuse of seal eating cod doesn't fly, cause if fishermen would kill/chemical castrate males, there wouldn't be so many babies born in the first place.
    Just a thought.

    Also, could someone clue me in what kind of fishermen? Commercial ones? The kind that supply Clearwater and Fishermen's in Bedford? Sorry for another stupid CFA question, but we actually like to eat fish, but I don't think I could leave my money at a place that shoots babies.

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  10. Hi Joan-

    Why is it I never here anything about the American seal hunt in Alaska.

    Why is it that I heard nothing about the monk seal going extinct last year?

    Why is it that the animal rights protest industry say nothing about the 92 million dollars that HSUS made in 2007?

    Why is it the animal rights only protest something they can make money from??

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  11. Joan, I was reading your blog entry on the grey seals washing up on Conrad Beach and past posts about similar incidents and had hoped that I may have a conversation with you on that subject since I've been working on the grey seal issue for a few years and was at Conrad Beach yesterday to examine the seals and to speak to media, but I fear after reading your response to Anonymous that it would be impossible to have a coherent discussion with you. I'm shocked to be quite honest at your hostile response to Anonymous's post. Telling him/her to f**k off? Come now, I think you need to either disable commenting abilities on your posts if you are intolerant of having your views questioned, or take a deep breath before replying. I think personally that Anonymous had a valid question. I think Anonymous simply touched a nerve because you are indeed one of those people who has different degrees of comfort with animal cruelty, depending on species. They're called speciesists.

    I would like to point out that you are incorrect in saying that HSUS doesn't care about grey seals. HSUS got involved in the NS grey seal issue two years ago when Rebecca Aldworth came to document with me the killing of grey seal pups on Hay Island, a protected wilderness area in Cape Breton. We documented the slaughter to make public what had been happening in secret for years on islands across Nova Scotia. Up until then, many people were not even aware it was happening each year, and the media didn't want to report it. As director of the Atlantic Canadian Anti-Sealing Coalition, one of my goals was to bring awareness to the world of the plight of NS grey seals, and HSUS and HSI Canada have helped me in this regard. HSUS and HSI returned to NS this year to document the slaughter of grey pups. Believe me, they are not "making money" on grey seals but they remain committed to helping end the slaughter. If you accompanied HSUS and HSI in their work and saw how committed they are, how they put their lives in danger to save the animals they seek to protect ('cute' or 'ugly', it doesn't matter to them) you would not make such quick judgments or such scathing accusations. HSUS works on a multitude of campaigns. Unfortunately they cannot tackle every single issue. It is unrealistic to expect them to be able to do that.

    Yes, what happens in slaughterhouses is evil. But one evil does not justify another. All animal cruelty should be addressed. Take all the seal pups off the ice and replace them with puppies. Is it still okay to shoot those puppies in the body, then as they're screaming in pain and fear to stab them through the face with a gaff and haul them across the ice, hurl them into the boat onto a pile of dead and dying puppies? Or bludgeon them on the head, kick them onto their back, club them in the face, then slice them open before they're even dead? By your logic, it would be acceptable to do this to puppies simply because slaughterhouses are cruel too. Now, remove the pigs and chickens from slaughterhouses and replace them with dogs. Is it still okay to eat that hamburger?

    It's not a good idea to assume anti-sealers wear leather and eat meat. Many, like me, are vegan. Banging on about slaughterhouses, calling people hypocrites and telling them to f**k off simply because they question your views takes away your credibility and will make people hesitant to engage you in meaningful dialogue or debate. Again, if you're not interested in having your views questioned, you should disable commenting or take a deep breath before you hit that 'submit' key and think about whether you really want to tell someone who is taking the time to read your blog to f**k off.

    And I also wanted to warn you in case you were serious about your dog rubbing against a dead seal...you are aware of the host of diseases and parasites carried by seals, right? Animals on fur farms have died after eating seal carcasses. Sealers can contract serious illness and infection from contact with infected seals. If I had a dog, I would steer well clear of that beach until the carcasses are gone and would demand DFO remove them immediately, as they are a public health hazard.

    It's really unfortunate you are so hostile to anti-sealing campaigners. I would've liked to discuss the matter of dead grey seals with you. If you're interested in reading more about the truth behind the grey seal kill in Nova Scotia please feel free to visit our website at:
    http://www.antisealingcoalition.ca/GreySeals/

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  12. Anonymous11:30 AM

    The monk seal the previous poster is talking about is the Carribean Monk Seal which has not been seen since the 1950s. I was only declared extinct last year, it didn't "go" extinct last year.

    There are still monk seals in other places like Hawaii and the Mediterranian. Both are extremely rare animals.

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  13. To the poster - "Atlantic Anti Sealing Coalition" - I wrote a follow-up post to your comment at http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-had-comment-left-on-my-blog-post.html if you want to read it -

    Joan

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