I really don't feel sorry for them, somehow.

Hopefully they are not using the time while stuck to club more baby seals. I've been to the Magdelenes to see the seals. They're even more adorable than in photos and more helpless than you can imagine. When these poor babies are clubbed to death, an act I did NOT have the misfortune to see, the mothers can do nothing but swim nearby and keep themselves and watch.

See if you can guess how much sympathy I have for someone that can walk up to a helpless baby and club him/her to death with a bat. This is not necessary, not sustainable, and not humane. As it is, these seals are going to have a hard enough time surviving global warming without having their babies murdered.

Oh, and don't forget to keep boycotting Canadian seafood from this region until the seal hunt is stopped. This does have an effect as the people killing the seals are the same people fishing in the region.

Let me start off by saying that I am a strict vegan, as is my husband - we will also raise our daughter so - no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, leather, wool, etc. That being said, opposition to the Canadian seal hunt is one of the things that irks me the most.

The only reason why such great outrage exists towards the seal hunt lies in the "cuteness" of the animals in question. It disturbs me greatly that the vast majority of those making such a fuss over "those poor babies" still eat cows, pigs, sheep and chickens - not quite so cute, too bad for them.

Seal hunting is more strictly regulated than slaughterhouses are; hunters not "properly" clubbing the animals and killing them humanely are charged and can have their licenses suspended for the next season. Government officials are on-hand to ensure this. No such oversight exists in any other slaughter industry. The death is quick and isn't preceded by days/months/years of intense physical and emotional trauma as in the case of animals killed in slaughterhouses.

If I had to choose between eating seal meat and cow meat, I'd choose seal hands down. Similarly, if I had to choose between the life (and death) of a cow and a seal in our current world, I'd rather die a seal.

Cuteness shouldn't decide whether or not one gets to live.

Addendum to the post above:

Just to clarify, I am just as opposed to the seal hunt as anyone, more than most I'm sure. I just detest the notion that one animal's life is worth more than another simply because we think it looks more "adorable". I wish that people would realize the hypocrisy in holding such a point of view.

That being said, perhaps opposition to the seal hunt is where we need to start. Maybe those who are first introduced to compassion for animals through the "cute baby seals" of Northern Canada will eventually realize that a mother cow doesn't miss her baby any less.

You've got some very good points Asymptote. I do eat meat. I also travel the world to view wildlife. Here are some things I'd add to that.

1) Cuteness should not be a factor, true.
2) Intelligence should be a factor, which argues against eating pig. I've cut back a lot on pigs.
3) Sustainability should be a factor.
a) Seals are, as this year shows and future years are likely to show more strongly, going to have a very hard time adapting to climate change. Animals that rely on an ever dwindling cryosphere should at least be left to deal with it as best they can.
b) People should not kill most predators as they are usually slow to reproduce and take a long time to reach maturity. Tuna, seals, swordfish, etc. are all bad for this reason. Top level predators also have high levels of toxins that concentrate up the food chain. Inuit women have such high levels of PCBs and mercury in their breast milk that it would literally be classified as hazardous waste.
c) Beef and chicken are probably bad from a sustainability standpoint due to the huge environmental problems caused by raising them.
4) Humane treatment until death and including the method of killing should be a huge factor. Since you tell me that the seals are killed humanely, I will look into this and, if so, will remove one of my reasons for opposing the slaughter. Humane treatment is the biggest reason that I never eat veal.
5) People should not kill what they will not eat. These seals are not being eaten by humans. In the arctic, the Inuit do indeed eat seal. In the Maritimes, these animals are being slaughtered for the fur trade. We can make garments to stay warm from a variety of better sources than this. Recycled soda bottles come to mind. This also argues against bear hunting, shark finning (where only the fins are eaten), and sport killing of any species not eaten by humans. It also argues strongly for reducing and ultimately eliminating the bycatch from fishing.
6) People should get the bulk of their protein from the most efficient sources possible to reduce land use. Soy is better than most meat, but is actually worse for the environment, in terms of protein produced per acre of land, than raising grain and feeding it to tilapia, carp, or catfish in a pond.

Have not heard anything lately - hopefully the ships are still stuck and the men will feel helpless - much like the baby seals do when they are being clubbed and shot and skinned. I would not care if these men went down with their ships -

As a high-school student living in Newfoundland, I am rather annoyed at the ignorance many people continue to share about the seal hunt.
The comments made by Joanne R., "I would not care if these men went down with their ships", were extremely hurtful and abnormally hardhearted.
Everyone is entitled to the right to form opinions, seal hunt included, but PLEASE make these opinions [and often accusations] based on fact and knowledge.
I am appalled that everyone who has posted [not to mention the article's author] believe that baby seals are still killed. The ignorance that surrounds those statements is baffling, and seemingly the main argued point in banning the seal hunt.
THE TRUTH IS THAT WHITE COAT SEALS HAVE NOT BEEN HUNTED FOR DECADES.
They haven't, yet almost all of the above posts based their arguments on the 'cute' baby seals you claim are slaughtered.
Please, before you throw around horrible, misinforming comments like "these poor babies are clubbed" GET INFORMED.
STOP THE IGNORANCE.

I am not even going to try dispelling the comments made on how the seal hunt is not necessary to the economy [IT IS}].
PLEASE STOP REPEATING BIASED INFORMATION YOU HEAR FROM ONE-SIDED ORGANIZATIONS. GET FACTS!

continuation...

I have to wonder, since hunting seals is not solely a Canadian issue, why it is the biggest target of these groups. There is a major hunt in the American state of Alaska each year. This hunt is much larger than the Atlantic hunt, but nobody ever seems to notice it. Instead protest groups would rather ignore the Alaskan hunt and focus on Atlantic Canada

Asymptote you are absolutely right. The way the mother hogs are kept in a pen where they can't move is a crime, not to mention the chickens crowded together so they can't sit down and they peck each other as they lose their minds. The cows also suffer in the feed lots where they are crowded and step on their excrements and also go insane. What kind of creatures(humans) run these death camps?

I think it is a sick day anywhere in the world when someone who kill a helpless creature. They have every right to be here