The Dog Harp Seal

Richard Westcott

When I interviewed Richard Westcott of Petty Harbour, he was 100 years old. A man with an alert mind and a wealth of memories. Any person who lives for 100 years has seen a lot to talk about. Here is the story about the time he crossed the path of a dog harp seal out at the sealfishery.

I DON'T KNOW WHETHER it was the year I was in the Thetis or no. It must have been the year I was in either the Thetis or the Diana, because there was a man Weir from Petty Harbour, and I was with him that same year.

When you are out on the ice, you get separated, quite a distance away from the others. I was walking along the ice that day, by myself. The other man with me was far enough away that I couldn't see him.

There was no danger of falling in the water, of being drowned that day, except for walking down into a seal's bobbing hole. They were always there, where the old seal was getting up and down.

It's the harp I'm telling you about. The male harp seal. We always called him the dog harp, and there's a mark on his back. He's all white, but there's a mark on his back; they call it a saddle. The shape of a saddle.

So I was walking along and I looked and I saw this dog. I said to myself I think I'll try to kill him. I didn't have any sense. So I walked over towards him and made a smack at him with the gaff!

He made for me, right savage! And if I didn't back away from him, he'd have eaten me.