Seal Hunt Disgrace (Part Two)

In Part One of this article we examined issues of cruelty and discussed at length the commercial Canadian seal hunt. With quotas in excess of 450 thousand seals to be slaughtered, the commercial Canadian seal hunt has the notorious distinction of being the largest slaughter of marine mammals on earth.

In this installment of the article, we shift our focus to the Namibian seal hunt. Please read the entire article because only in its entirety will you be able to appreciate just how wrong this hunt is.

The species targeted by the Namibian seal hunt is the Cape fur seal. It is a threatened species and is listed on Appendix II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) It has lost more than 95% of its preferred habitat and is under severe threat from over-fishing and global warming.

Cape fur seals have suffered from several major mass die offs in recent years. The most notable was in 2004 when an estimated 350 thousand seals died from starvation. (1/3rd of total population) This is the largest mass die off of any marine mammal in recorded history.

The species is under severe threat from global warming. In 2004 an estimated 350 000 seals died. Photo credit unknown Namibia has no claim whatsoever to having a traditional hunt. The indigenous peoples of southern Africa never hunted seals and only began doing so long after the arrival of early European settlers. Namibia is the only country in the southern hemisphere that hunts seals and is the only country on earth that targets nursing pups.

The Namibian seal hunt has received very little attention from animal rights activists or the international media; certainly far less than it deserves. Reasons for this include the following:

The annual quota for the Namibian seal hunt has been set at 86 000 for the last few years. This quota is made up as follows:

By promoting seal penis as a sexual performance enhancer, Namibia fuels an illegal international trade in animal body parts for fake medicines. In this way, Namibia is as guilty of fraud as those who claim medicinal benefits from rhino horn or tiger bones.

Seal penis is fraudulently promoted as a sexual performance enhancer and sold to a seedy Asian adult entertainment market Since the EU ban on the import of seal products was implemented in 2009, Canada has been slaughtering roughly 10% of her annual quota. The result is that Namibia, even with a far lower quota, has on two occasions slaughtered more animals than those being killed under the commercial Canadian hunt.

Cape fur seals are not "true seals" but rather "fur seals." They are more like sea lions in appearance. They have a very different physiology to the harp seals that are targeted under the commercial Canadian hunt. Cape fur seals have external ear flaps, but it is their locomotory abilities and their breeding habits that are of important significance.

Harp seals have their hind flippers bound to the pelvis. They use their abdominal muscles to shuffle across the ice. They are sluggish on land and, although cruel, the chances of landing a single blow sufficient to stun the animal are quite good.

Cape fur seals on the other hand are able to tuck their hind flippers beneath themselves so as to move about on all fours. They are extremely agile on land and can run almost as fast as a man, even over rough terrain. When they are being beaten, these seals take evasive actions and several blows are typically landed before the animal is rendered dead or unconscious.

Physiological differences between Cape fur seals (left) and harp seals (right)

The weaning period for harp seals is a remarkably short 3 to 4 weeks. This is one of the shortest weaning periods of any mammal. Once weaned, the adult female will abandon her pup and it is left to fend for itself. Cape fur seals take far longer to wean. They remain heavily dependent on their mothers for up to a year. These animals are beaten to death when they are just seven months old and still very much dependent on the teat. This is nothing short of murder in the nursery.

Seal pups in Namibia are beaten to death while still dependent on their mothers teats. Photo credit Bart Smithers Harp seals go through a number of developmental stages that clearly identify the age of the animal. They are born with a yellowish coat which turns to white in a matter of days. At this stage, they are known as "white-coats."At 3-4 weeks of age they begin to molt, with tufts of fur coming off in patches. Here they are known as "ragged jackets" Once the molt has finished, the pups are no longer suckling. They are off the teat and are eligible to be slaughtered. At this stage they are known as "beaters" and have a silvery grayish coat.

There is no such identification process for Cape fur seals. A pup of 7 months can look identical to a seal that is two years old. This means the skull of the two year old has had time to develop and requires much more force to crush than that of a 7 month old. Again, multiple blows for a thicker skull and multiple blows due to the seal taking evasive actions.

Namibia seal hunt results in tourism boycott

Please be advised, this clip contains graphic scenes that may not be suitable for sensitive viewers Harp seals are found in isolated pockets that are scattered across the ice. Killing one does not tend to affect the rest of the colony. The breeding grounds of Cape fur seals are densely packed, with as many as 350 thousand animals in a single colony. When the seal clubbers begin their daily act of barbaric cruelty, a mass panic ensues. The entire herd stampedes towards the safety of the sea. Heavy bulls crush any young pups that get in their way. Pups become so terrified they will vomit up their mothers' milk in fear. Pregnant females are known to get so distressed that they will even self-abort.

Terrified pups vomit up their mothers milk in fear. Photo credit Bart Smithers The commercial Canadian seal hunt usually lasts for a period of six to eight weeks, peaking over the months of March and April. By comparison, the horror faced by the Cape fur seals in Namibia is stretched out over a period of 139 days, from the 1st of July through to mid-November. Daily disturbances at the colony over a prolonged period create undue stress. This leads to compromised immune systems, disruption of the physiological and neurological functions and interferes with reproduction systems.

It should be quite clear to any thinking person why this hunt is considered by scientists to be the cruelest, most reprehensible act of mass cruelty on earth.

Cape Cross is signposted as being a dedicated seal reserve, an area where seals ought to be protected. Up to 50 000 seals are slaughtered here each year. The vast majority are cubs still suckling from their mothers teats. Image provided by Francois Hugo of Seal Alert Clubbing takes place from around 5:30am until 9am The reserve is closed until 10 am in seal hunt season (or 8am when no seals are being clubbed) From 9am onwards, the seal clubbers pack up and beat a hasty retreat. They don't want tourists to become aware of their little seaside cult of violence.

After 10am tourists come to view the remains of the seal colony. If per chance, a tourist should ever query the blood stains on the beach left behind from the seal hunt, the officials will tell them there were jackals and. hyenas around the night before. They make up stories about how the jackals eat the poor baby seals. In reality, they themselves have beaten several hundred pups to death that very morning.

Sadly, it doesn't end there. The Namibian seal hunt goes far beyond the realm of animal rights and welfare issues and impacts on pressing matters of social development, sustainability, employment and even basic human rights. For more information on this topic we encourage you to watch the following clip.

Namibian Seal Hunt - Humanitarian aspect

Pat Dickens, campaign manager for The Seals Of Nam discusses the humanitarian aspects surrounding the Namibian seal massacre.

There are three major arguments that the government and proponents of the Namibian seal hunt like to bandy about. None of these has any validity and all three can be easily disputed using solid scientific facts, de facto reality and basic economics.

1) The seals are eating all the fish

The first and most common argument is the ludicrous notion that the seals are responsible for a decline in fish stocks. Neither the government nor any organization or individual has been able to provide peer reviewed evidence in support of this claim. An analysis of the stomach contents of Cape fur seals reveals that less than 30% of their diet is made up from what commercial fisheries are catching. The rest is made up of crustaceans, cephalopods and non-targeted fish species which are considered by the industry as by-catch to be discarded.

Since gaining independence in 1990, the Namibian government increased their fishing quota from 300 thousand tons to 600 thousand tons. There are no publicly available records to show that an environmental impact assessment was undertaken to warrant such a drastic increase.

Namibia does not have much of a navy to speak of. Lack of monitoring vessels and inadequate compliance personnel mean that there is precious little to defend her territorial waters from illegal trawlers that are raping her coast of its natural resources.

Corruption and bribery cannot be ruled out. A Norwegian businessman has recently made public claims that high ranking officials within the Namibian government have been recipients of lavish gifts in order to secure fishing quotas. This is important when considering the following.

The Namibian Minister of Fisheries and Resources, Bernard Esau, REGULARLY ignores the advice of government scientists and allocates quotas far in excess of recommended levels. His Ministry has on more than one occasion been taken to task for the illegal allocation of quotas as well as violating the Treasuries Act by failing to submit financial records. Bernard Esau has also failed to update his asset register since 2009, an annual requirement of any Namibian Member of Parliament. It has also been revealed that Bernard Esau attended the World Cup Soccer in Brazil and the private jet in which he flew was chartered by a company to whom he allocated quotas to.

Fisheries Minister Bernard Esau has a penchant for the finer things in life The main reason for a collapse in fish stocks is attributed to global warming. Hake spawn along the continental shelf off Namibia. As they mature, these fish migrate into deeper, cooler waters. With pronounced atmospheric conditions associated with the Benguela niño, ocean temperatures rise and the juvenile hatchlings also move into deeper, cooler waters. Here they are immediately preyed upon by the adult hake, as both hake species found in the region are cannibalistic. With insufficient young able to reach sexual maturity in order to replenish stocks, a collapse occurs. This is scientific fact and no amount of arguing from proponents of the hunt will ever change that.

Aside from the aforementioned, consider the following logic. Namibia has approximately 23 seal colonies. The largest of these by far is at Cape Cross. This seal colony stretches out over a distance of two kilometers. If you took all 23 seal colonies and you placed them side by side, this "super-colony" would stretch out over a distance of 18 km's. Namibia has a coastline of 1 500km in length and an EEZ of 200 nautical miles. It is absolute insanity to assume that 18 km's worth of seals is responsible for 1 500 km's x 200 NM's worth of fishing stocks when the species has lived in harmony with the ocean for a period of FOUR MILLION YEARS!

2) There are too many seals. They need to be culled.

This is another classic example of where the gullible and the ignorant have fallen for years of misinformation and blatant propaganda. When a member of the public visits a location such as Cape Cross, the first impression is the sheer multitude of seals in that particular colony. What they see is thousands of seals and it is automatically assumed that the government is correct in taking measures to control the population.

Localized images such as these give the incorrect impression that there are too many seals. Things couldn't be further from the truth The reality is that the seals are in a shocking predicament. Image Credit George Steinmetz Seals have been banned from larger off-shore islands under a law known as the "Seals and Seabirds Protection Act" This Act is a joke and does precious little for the protection of seals. It serves to persecute them and deny them their natural habitat. But in terms of being of any benefit to the seals, it is hardly worth the paper it is written on.The only person ever to have been charged under this Act is a man by the name of Francois Hugo. Not for harming the seals, but for RESCUING them!. The reasoning behind the legislation is that incorrect notion that seals displace seabirds such as gannets and are a threat to penguins. What is not accounted for is that seals and seabirds have lived in harmony with each other for four million years.

Doesn't look like those penguins are too concerned about a seal in their midst. Do seals displace penguins?

The entire seal population is nowadays forced to live on tiny unsuitable wash-rocks, having been banned from their former habitat of off-shore islands. This causes massive overcrowding and when members of the public see loads of seals on one rock they assume there are too many seals. They do not see the islands that seals have traditionally inhabited which are now banned to them.

If the public were alerted to the fact, the reality of the situation would cause a massive uproar. Sadly, getting the message out to the public has proven to be extremely difficult, with much interference from the government. However, using government supplied statistics, we are able to show that seal "culling" is having the exact OPPOSITE of it's intended effect and that "management practices" are creating a massive imbalance. We are also able to show that the seals have suffered an alarming 95% loss of preferred habitat and are in serious trouble.

Thousands of seals desperate for a space on Jacobs Reef. 12 km away, Malgas is a nice large island, government has banned seals from their home. The entire species is forced to live on unsuitable wash-rocks. This results in massive overcrowding and gives the public the misconception that there are too many seals.

List of off-shore islands formerly inhabited by seals

1) Bird Island Seals were hunted to extinction and banned from the island.

2) Seal Island Seals were hunted to extinction and banned from the island.

3) Stag Island, Seals were hunted to extinction and banned from the island.

4) St Croix Island, Seals were hunted to extinction and banned from the island.

5) Brenton Island, Seals were hunted to extinction and banned from the island.

6) Jahleel Island, Seals were hunted to extinction and banned from the island.

7) Robben Island Seals were hunted to extinction and banned from the island.

8) Merucy Island, Seals were hunted to extinction and banned from the island.

9) Possession Island, Seals were hunted to extinction and banned from the island.

10) Penguin Island, Seals were hunted to extinction and banned from the island.

Dolphin Head. In just two short years, an entire colony has gone extinct. Still think too many seals?

This dismal situation is repeated for more than FORTY offshore islands. For more information on habitat loss, refer to our website. It truly is a SHOCKING state of affairs.

Of the roughly 46 seal colonies stretching from the most eastern edge to the most western of the seals distribution range, 40 colonies have seen marked declines in populations without ANY culling taking place. 3 have remained relatively stable and 3 have seen massive population explosions. The three colonies that have seen massive population explosions are the ONLY THREE WHERE CULLING HAS TAKEN PLACE in recent times - these are Cape Cross (Namibia), Wolf/Atlas Bay (Namibia) and Kleinzee (South Africa)

Click HERE if you need perspective on the hunt. Photo credit Bart Smithers Think about that for a moment. - Most colonies are experiencing a natural population decline. Three are stable. But at three locations, the ONLY three locations where thousands of seals are being slaughtered, there is a massive population explosion. How do you explain that?

Let us return to the quota. 80 000 pups beaten to death for their fur and 6 000 bulls seals shot for their penises to be used as sex tonics. Because the penises from the male pups can ALSO be sold, male pups are targeted much more so than female pups. At the end of a season, there is an unnatural, disproportionate ratio of females to males, with many more females than males in the colony. The problem arises in that one bull can impregnate up to forty females. Dominant bulls no longer need to fight for mating rights as there is the pick to chose from. This causes the population explosions.

Seal penises hanging out to dry. Photo credit Bart Smithers Further evidence of this can be found at the South African location of Kleinzee. From 1976 to 1990 the colony at Kleinzee saw a population growth of 161% This despite huge numbers of seals being killed each year. South Africa stopped clubbing seals in 1990. From 1990 to 2005 the seal colony only grew by 5% At the time, when SA stopped "culling" seals, the fisheries were up in arms, concerned that the seals would destroy stocks. Ironically, and much to everyone's surprise, local fisheries actually IMPROVED due to a healthier, more complete ecosystem.

Today, at Cape Cross where Namibia continues to slaughter thousands of seals, the colony has seen a population explosion of more than 320% from 1976 to 2005. Attempts to get the latest figures from Namibia on a colony by colony basis have been flat out refused.

3) The Namibian seal hunt provides much needed employment

Again, this is utter rubbish. According to the state owned newspaper "New Era" only 81 people are seasonally employed for four months of the year. They earn minimum wages that equate to roughly US$7 per day. They live in makeshift shacks bordering the desert on the outskirts of town. These workers are poorly educated. With no alternative source of income available they are being deliberately exploited and are kept in a position of poverty and squalor. This is so as to provide the industry with cheap labour. Attempts to introduce alternative forms of employment are subverted by industry bosses who run the town like the mafia. Workers get told that foreigners are trying to take away their jobs.

The community is deliberately kept in a position of squalor so as to provide cheap labour. Photo credit unknown The last time the author of this article attempted to enter Namibia, he was detained at the border, interrogated, labeled a "threat to the safety and security of the Sovereign Republic of Namibia" deported and slapped with a lifetime ban from entering the country. He faces a $20 000.00 fine and/or five years imprisonment if he attempts to return. This simply for wanting to photograph the seal colony, the country's second largest tourist attraction, from a tourists point of view and to investigate what options could be taken in terms of community upliftment initiatives.

An independent report titled "The economics of seal hunting and seal watching in Namibia" clearly shows that seal viewing based eco-tourism will yield 300% more revenue for the government and will create a wealth of job opportunities in a country desperate for employment. Sustainable, economically rewarding micro-industries could be created that would see valuable skills being taught. Examples include the creation of niche markets for seal dung as fertiliser, small business development, tourism, catering and hotel management, guest relations, glass blowing, recycling, camel and luxury tented safaris and loads of other opportunities.

The government could generate an entire brand around their seal colonies and market it in a way similar to what South Africa does with the Big 5. This would instill a sense of national identity which the people of Namibia could feel proud over. Instead, the government has chosen to isolate itself from the world stage by carrying on with a barbaric and cruel leftover of a colonialist era. This seal hunt amounts to nothing but a national disgrace. It makes a mockery of the national anthem "Namibia, the brave."

Quoting from Namibia's Animal Protection Act it is an offence for:
(1) Any person who:

(a )overloads, overdrives, overrides, ill-treats, neglects, infuriates, tortures or maims or cruelly beats, kicks, goads or terrifies any animal;

Surely multiple blows from a pick handle constitute a cruel beating?

If the seals are so scared they vomit, defecate, pee all over themselves and even self abort, they are being terrified?

Does stabbing them in the throat so as to bleed out not count as maiming?

Is the government not breaking its own laws??

In 2011, we met with the Namibian ombudsman, Advocate John Walters. Many animal welfare and conservation organizations were present at the meeting, which had been arranged by Seal Alert.

Adv John alters has ruled that a seal.... is NOT an animal.

At the beginning of the day, Walters assured the stakeholders that he would do a thorough, unbiased investigation. He then promptly chased the media out the room and forbade the use of recording devices. We knew then something was up. Each organization put forward a multitude of reasons why the hunt should be ended. The legal reasons, the fishing industry, the ethics, economics etc etc. all the information was supplied. Once everyone had spoken, Walters promised there would be no delays and we could expect his report by early 2012.

There were NUMEROUS delays.Each time there was a probem with the population data. The ministry had not supplied him the figures. Time dragged on and two weeks short of July, when the hunt was set to begin, we had had enough of the excuses. We called it as we saw it and declared the meeting a farce. Two days later Walters released his report. (for what it was worth) In this report the Advocate ruled that Namibia is NOT in violation of the Animal Protection Act .... because seals are not animals.

The law defines an animal as "any equine, bovine, sheep, goat, pig, fowl, ostrich, dog, cat, or other domestic animal or bird, or any wild animal, wild animal, wild bird or reptile which is in captivity or under control of any person."

Since seals are wild animals they are not animals. How absolutely daft can one be and how pathetic to use such twisted logic so as to justify an act of mass cruelty. How utterly perverse!

Don't worry, those things on meathooks are not animals. They are just seals. hanging on meat hooks.

Using the same daft logic that Advocate Walters employs, it can be said that elephants are not animals, neither are lions, cheetah, buck, zebra, hyena's, rhino, giraffes, baboons, monkeys, warthogs, badgers, leopards, .... not ONE of these are animals. With none of the common creatures allowed to be animals, then it can be safely said that the only animals in Namibia are the savage beasts beating the wildlife to death.

How ...??? ... the mind just boggles... a seal is not an animal. I mean...how do you close off an article after they spew that kind kind of curve ball at you.

Please share this information. There are a lot of people out there who still believe that seals are animals. We need to let them know the truth. Seals... not animals. Seal clubbers ... they are the new animals.

Thank you for your support.

Pat Dickens and The Seals Of Nam