Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

[Widow]

Don't the seals become a problem for the fish stock? Isn't that why we allow the hunting, as a form of culling? If they weren't culled, what would happen to the fishing industry and Maritime economy?

That's debateable. Seals weren't threatening the fish stock in the old days when the Grand Banks were overstuffed with fish. Let's not kid ourselves and take the focus away from what is really depleating the fish stock: overfishing.

They weren't threatening the fish stock in the old days, when my great, great, great grandfather was rather famous for his skills as a whaler. Remember whales used to eat the seals ... natural culling. We fished our oceans almost bare of whales so now the seal population has exploded. There used to be a natural order to things, and yes, man has destroyed it. So what do we do now?

[. ._]

I say we make ourselves extinct. Maybe the next ape will be smarter.

-istp

[Dust Devil]

They need to make seal bacon

[. ._]

Or the Ultimate Seal Bacon Sandwich.

[CID]

Remember whales used to eat the seals ... natural culling.

Um...whales don't eat seals. Never have. Now are you going to tell me how polar bears control the penguin population?

[grimey]

Well orcas do, but I guess since they're dolphins that doesn't count.

[Wilbur]

Killer whales eat seals. However, I suppose Orcas aren't really whales, they're dolphins or porposises or something.

Sorry Hickory, whether or not anyone "needs" to kill something is entirely subjective, and those sealers think they need to kill those seals.

[spin drift]

Here is an intersting interview on CBC Radio in 1978 with Paul Watson.
I guess he decided to jump on the band wagon, and make some Hay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_gTBDFTXE0

Enjoy.

[2R]

The best weapon against any politician has always been their own words and deeds

[Blue Side Down]

Is the seal hunt really the root of the apparent issue here, of is it another futile attempt at fighting an effect of a totally separate issue that is much harder to deal with? Who's trying to kid who in thinking that impeding the hunt in Canada will have any effect on the worldwide market for seal fur?

Speaking of needless killing... what exactly happens when a farm needs to be clear cut out of the forest? Where does the displaced wildlife go? As the forests shrink smaller and smaller, fewer and fewer animals can be supported by the land- some move, some die of starvation, some don't make it through their first year, some will be taken out by the trucks carrying the produce to market. If you wake up every morning, you have played your part in the death of another living creature- which is inarguably the way life endures and a fact that must be come to peace with. Your part becomes keeping cognisant of your responsibility to the cycle, however hard or selfless it may be. The fact is that we do need to kill to live, whether it be to sell a fur to support a family, to eat (even if it's only veggies), or to get rid of that spider on the bathroom ceiling that's totally ruining the current magazine article.

[sissyphus]

I find it funny for some "enlightened" activist to say that seal hunting with a club is inhumane. Its efficient. It doesn't use any power, gun powder, registered/non registered rifle. It doesn't require much maintenance. Simple and elegant. With the world going "green" i'd thought the hippies would love this one.

But the seal hunt is a big distraction from the larger issues of the world. If you were to place a white sheet in any slaughter house, you'd get the same gory scene. If you're going to ban the seal hunt, ban all animal slaughter.

The audacity that man can provide better than nature has gotten us into this mess to begin with. We could come up with a new vegan diet that was in step with all the hippy agendas, then die from the lack of a vitamin we never knew existed. Spider venom contains upto 50 odd proteins, of which we can only isolate a dozen. Nature is so incredibly complex, I find it sad to see such hubris.

I find the only solution is to return to nature. Hunt your own food. Maybe if you had to rely on your own skills to survive we wouldn't have all the complaining we do now. Maybe we'd be concerned about the quality of the animals we're hunting. Work to save the rivers and the forests, the lakes and oceans. We could start to live within nature as opposed to tame and control it.

A larger thunderstorm creates more energy than mankind has ever produced. Maybe we're not all the powerful after all. Maybe we should reform the christian ideal that animals were put on this earth to serve man. Maybe we should go outside from time to time and see what is happening around us. Listening to "experts" eliminates the onus from the individual.

Maybe the reason why the world is getting fat, bored and stupid, is that we've eliminated the purpose for our instincts.