Eyewitness Account to the Slaughter of Grey Seal Pups on Hay Island - February 2008
By Bridget Curran                                                                                                                        Photos copyright Humane Society International Canada

In February 2008 I was witness to the ultimate betrayal -1,260 grey seals born and nursed on Hay island, part of the Scaterie Island protected wilderness area in the so-called care of the provincial government were bludgeoned to death with wooden bats by Nova Scotia fishermen intent on killing every seal pup they could find. This slaughter was sanctioned by the Nova Scotia government - a government that was tasked with the duty to protect them as part of the biodiversity of Hay Island. Instead, the government caved to fishing industry lobbyists' demands and cooked up a lame excuse, claiming that the seals were eating all the fish in the surrounding waters. The provincial government claimed that the cull was necessary to protect fish in surrounding waters. By the very definition of the Wilderness Areas Protection Act, "surrounding waters" do not constitute part of the protected area and consequently the fish in them cannot be considered part of the biodiversity of the protected wilderness area. Even if they were, it does not remove the fact there there is no scientific evidence that seals are responsible for the collapse of fish stocks or the failure of those stocks to rebound. It is our own destructive fishing practces that have created the crisis state of our oceans. In fact, the government has stated clearly that it does not know if slaughtering all of this year's pups born on Hay Island will have any impact on fish stocks in surrounding waters. Fishermen are inhumanely slaughtering thousands of pups as a test to see if it will affect fish stocks. This is, essentially, an experiment.

I traveled to Hay Island with powerful allies - representatives of Humane Society International and Humane Society of the United States. We reached Hay Island by zodiac inflatible. Because of wording in the Marine Mammal Regulations at that time, an observer permit was not required for a seal hunt occurring on land. When DFO stopped us enroute to Hay Island, I gave them a copy of the relevant section of the Marine Mammal Regulations with the pertinent sections highlighted. DFO officials then detained us for about an hour while they made various phone calls to confirm this. Finally, we were allowed to go and we continued to the island.

The first thing I saw when I landed on the island broke my heart. A young whitecoat pup, obviously traumatized by the horrific events unfolding around her, rolled around on the ground and cried out inconsolably. Beside her was a pail of crude wooden bats, drenched in blood. This terrified pup was crying out for help - help that would not come.

I reluctantly left her, taking comfort in the fact that at least she would be spared on this day, as it is illegal to sell or barter whitecoat pelts and the fishermen were after the moulted pups. As we continued up over the ridge, I stopped in shock, unable to comprehend immediately the horror unfolding before my eyes.

The seals had been herded together for the fishermen's ease of killing. Moulted pups were mixed in with newborn whitecoats and adult females trying to protect their babies. As I watched in horror, this sea of petrified seals, eyes bulging and mouths open in cries of fear, swelled toward me. The seals were trying to flee in our direction and it seemed as if they were running to us for protection. There was nothing I could do for them, beyond documenting their death to show to others the horrors of commercial seal hunting and the many reasons why it must be ended.

The sealers moved among the sea of fleeing seals, bashing their skulls with wooden bats, flipping them over and slicing them open from chin to rear flippers with box cutters or knives, then flipping them over again to let their blood flow onto the ground, turning Hay Island into a river of blood. Seals were being bludgeoned and butchered mere inches from each other, adding to their panic.

As the sealers continued their grisly work, they discussed where they were going for a beer that night and joked about the carnage and terror they were causing, calling out "Uh oh, here comes Batman! Hardeeharhar!!" (referring to the wooden bats they were using to bludgeon the helpless pups) and urging each other to hit the pups hard, shouting, "Give 'er, buddy, give 'er!". One such sick joke was caught on camera. A fisherman, approaching a terrified pup, said, "Come here, little buddy, I have something for you!" and then bludgeoned the pup with his bat. Their cruel laughter mingled with the frightened cries of seals and the sickening impact of wood on skull. I will never forget those sounds as long as I live, and I will always wonder exactly what sort of person can find such mirth and amusement from causing such terror and agony to another sentient being.

As I watched, the sea of seals trickled to a few, and then none. All dead.

Dead pups, sliced open and blood still trickling onto the ground, were pierced with gaffs and dragged past live moulted pups still trying to escape as well as traumatized whitecoats, on their way to the dumping ground where hundreds of dead seals lay, awaiting transfer by winch to the boat sitting offshore. I learned later that the carcasses were taken to Main-A-Dieu where they were skinned the next day.

These beautiful pups had on the previous day lazed on the wind-swept island with their nursery mates, calling out to each other with grunts and wheezes, scratching their sides lazily with their flippers, and rolling around on the ground to scratch an itch as their fluffy white coat slipped off. Today they lay together, eyes dull, heads and faces encrusted with blood, their bodies sliced open, exposed to the sun, flippers appearing to be clenched tight to their bodies as a reminder of the fear and agony that were their last sensations on what used to be their island; their sanctuary.

I made them a silent promise that their deaths will not go unnoticed, as have the deaths of thousands of grey seal pups in years past in this province. This year is different. This year the slaughter of grey seal pups by greedy Nova Scotian fishermen will not be hushed up or conducted in secret. This year it has been documented and will be shown to the world.

The Canadian government has made a grave error in allowing this slaughter to occur in a protected wilderness area. By allowing this to happen, it has shone a spotlight on the cruel practices used in Nova Scotia to slaughter grey seals under the guise of "cull", "commercial fishery" or "nuisance seal fishery". While the Canadian government makes representations that it is committed to a "humane and responsible hunt", we have gruesome footage that belies those claims. No one in their right state of mind could watch footage of terrified seal pups being herded together, bludgeoned with crude wooden bats and sliced open with box cutters mere inches from each other while adult females try to protect their babies, and proclaim it to be a "humane and responsible hunt". But then, the government didn't think anyone would be watching. DFO ignored my repeated phone messages requesting information on start dates and locations for the grey seal hunts and the Nova Scotian government made the announcement regarding Hay Island only the day before the hunt began, thinking that no one would take notice and certainly would not have time to act. Well, they were wrong. Someone did take notice, and someone did act. Atlantic Canadian Anti-Sealing Coalition took notice and acted. Humane Society International Canada took notice and acted. Humane Society of the United States took notice and acted. And now Europe will take notice and will act. Yes, DFO is going to regret this lapse of judgment. Of that, I am certain.