Grey Seal Conservation Society

Plankton + Fish
+ Seals
= Healthy Ocean

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a healthy ocean, a holistic, precautionary approach to the grey seal question...

Grey Seal Conservation Society (GSCS) Mission Statement	Grey Seal Pup Mass Mortality April 15, 2009 (Unexplained mass mortality of grey seal pups in Nova-Scotia - DFO unconcerned) Photo courtesy: biker, www.fokarium.pl It seems...apparent that the continuing survival of dotars (harbour seals) and horseheads (grey seals) in Canadian waters will depend, not on enlightened and honest policies applied by government departments and their patrons and lackeys, but on independent conservation organizations such as may take up the battle on behalf of the grey seal." - Farley Mowat, in "Sea of Slaughter," 1984 (Grey Seal Conservation Society (GSCS) Director) Photo courtesy Dr. Wlodzimierz Tych, Department of Environmental Sciences, Lancaster University. register your opinion: please sign our guestbook View Guestbook Sign Guestbook "We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals...We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animals shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complex than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the Earth." Henry Beston (Photo courtesy Alix D'Entremont)
FAQ		Seal-fisheries interactions "We've got a huge seal population and a very fragile fish stock and it's a nasty combination." - Earle McCurdy, president FFAW (...more) Consider the fragile cod: fish food (plankton) is critical for healthy fish, and seals have always been in the business of building plankton... Grey Seals of Fox Harbour. Feb 11/07 (click on image to enlarge) Grey Seal Conservation Society (GSCS) Collage Melmerby Beach, 2005 The Grey Seal Conservation Societies (GSCS) new information brochure. (...more) July 23/05 Tourism The stench of rotting seal carcasses is off-putting to say the least...see photo gallery of dead Nova Scotian "nuisance seals" (WARNING: graphic content) The "other" white coat Grey seal pups, like the better known Canadian harp seal pups, are born with soft white fur. Some claim, however, that the grey seal pup is "not cute"...you decide. See also: (GSCS) denounces harp seal hunt and Predator-prey relationship not a simple equation... Seal Oil This pricey modern "snake oil" (claims to cure multiple human ills) leaves "a fishy after-taste." But, the rising PCB and mercury content of marine mammal blubber poses a subtle, if tasteless, threat to human consumers. "Seal diseases update..." CBC's "Starving Oceans" program is now available online... NEW: Videos explaining the basis of the fish powered ocean carbon sink.

CBC's "Starving Oceans" program is now available online...May 2010 NEW: Videos explaining the basis of the fish powered ocean carbon sink. News Grey Seal Pup Mass Mortality April 2009 Grey Seal Hunt update February 2009 "Illegal Grey Seal Hunt" Hay Island February 2008 "Killing the Seals of Nova Scotia." The Animals Voice Magazine. Mar 01/07 Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans - Formal evidence to Federal Government of Canada. Nov 09/06 Brief to Parliament on seal hunt. Nov 09/06 Seal diseases update...Oct 23/06 Formal evidence given to the Provincial Government of Nova Scotia and the committee on Natural Resources. Oct 03/06 Sea Creatures Make a Healthy Ocean Planet, Air Included. July 13/06 Stricter food safety rules needed for seals. May 26/06 Letter to Mr.Strahl "Minister responsible for the safety of seal products." May 19/06 Seal oil leaves a fishy aftertaste. April 20/06 Seal hunt ecologically irresponsible. March 29/06 DFO Seal Forum 2005 and comments on Ecosystem Science omitted from the seal hunt plan. November 21/05 Predator-prey relationship not a simple question March 30/05 (GSCS) denounces harp seal hunt March 14/05 . (more news) Juvenile grey seal, close encounter
Grey Seal History "Throughout the latter part of the eighteenth century, the demand for train oil kept growing and the consequent destruction of walrus and whales increased the burden on the seals of providing oil..." (...more, from Farley Mowat)