Update  from the Farley Mowat 

April 1st, 2005
2230 Hours AST

The Gulf of St. Lawrence

The eleven members of the Farley Mowat crew arrested yesterday on the charge of allegedly approaching a seal killer on the ice without a permit have been freed.

The prosecutor had demanded a $1,000 bail for each person but Sea Shepherd director Dr. Jerry Vlasak, (one of the arrested crewmembers), argued that if bail was set, none of the crew would post it. They would stay in jail and hunger strike until released. Jerry also argued that Sea Shepherd had every intention of challenging the absurd regulations in court.

Lisa Shalom, the only Canadian citizen of the eleven, was released the night before and was able to return to the ship courtesy of a helicopter ride from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The other crew arrested were from the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany.

The other ten crew members will return to the ship by helicopter tomorrow.

Several of the crewmembers who were assaulted have laid complaints with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The complaints filed include claims of assault, battery, and assault with a deadly weapon. The police have questioned the sealers, and Rendell Genge, the Captain of the Brady Mariner admitted to attacking Farley Mowat crewmembers but said it was self defense. He claimed he was attacked first. Unfortunately, for Captain Genge, the entire assault was fully documented on two different video cameras. Captain Genge can lie to the media and get away with it but he will have a more difficult time lying to the court with documentation as evidence to disprove his lies.

Meanwhile back on the ice the other sealers assaulted a film crew from the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Shots were fired in the air by a sealer and so the Mounties began a second investigation.