Report from the Farley Mowat

March 31st, 2005

0930 Hours AST 0530 PST

Position: 46 Degrees 47 Minutes 59 Seconds North

61 Degrees 44 Minutes 29 Seconds West

25 Miles South of the Magdalens

30 Miles Northwest of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

A Truly Wonderful Perfect Storm

It is the last day of March and the wind is roaring like a lion, the ice pressure continues to build, visibility is severely limited, the temperature continues to drop and the crew of the Farley Mowatare very contented.

We love this storm and the havoc it is causing to the sealing fleet. The entire armada of sealing vessels, a fleet that numbered close to one hundred on Monday is now scattered, shattered, and scurrying to the closest port.

"It's not worth it b'ye, these seals ain't worth this!," one sealer was overheard saying to another on the radio.

The Canadian Coast Guard has been working through the night rescuing one sealing vessel after another.

The crew of the Farley Mowat are sitting in the middle of this panic circus, enjoying every minute of this storm.

"This is the perfect storm," said First Cook Jonny Vasic. "This is the second day made safe for the seals from the barbarians on those vessels. The seals seem happy and I'm happy for them."

It is of course incredible that these vessels were allowed to come out into these elements. The boats used by the sealers are all within the fifty to seventy foot range and their hulls were not built to withstand such ice pressure. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, in their lust to have the seals killed, have placed these vessels and their crew in dire peril. It appears that anyone with a boat was given a license and permission to go out and slaughter seals.

"This is the same government that wanted us to cross every ‘t' and dot every ‘i' on every certificate and accused us of not having a proper ship and crew to go to the ice," said Captain Paul Watson. "Yet here we are safe and seaworthy as the entire sealing fleet lies in disarray around us. If they were really concerned about safety and not so much about harassing us, the bureaucrats would have been more careful about what types of vessels they authorized to go to this free-for-all-slaughter on the ice."

As the sealers scramble to return to port, the crew of the Farley Mowat are filming seals and sending dive crews under the ice to film the seals beneath the surface.

"I love this place," said Laura Dakin from Bermuda, "the seals are beautiful, this storm is incredibly welcome because it put a stop to the cruelty and the killing. I'm so glad we are here. I'm enjoying this immensely."

The wind and moving ice is pushing the Farley Mowat and many of the sealers away from the Magdalens towards the coast of Cape Breton Island.

Not many seals will die today.