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Life Cycle of the Harp seal
Harp seals move in huge herds. During the summer,
they bask and feed near Greenland, Baffin Island, and northern Hudson bay. The
herd then moves south ahead of the Arctic ice pack.
The herd splits in two after it passes Labrador.
Some of the seals move with the ice down the strait of Belle Isle to the Gulf
of St. Lawrence. This group is called the Gulf Herd.
The rest of the seals move with the ice to the east
of Great Northern Peninsula. This group comes rest at The Front. The Front is
an area off Labrador and the northeast coast of Newfoundland
In the Gulf, the pups are born in late February or
early March. The Front herd usually whelps about two weeks later.
At birth, the fuzzy coat of the newborn seal has a
tinge of yellow. In about three days, it turns to a spotless white. From then
until they are about two weeks old, the young are called white coats. The pups
weigh about 15 pound each at birth. Two or three weeks later, they weigh 60 or
70 pounds. They gain all this weight because they drink the fatty milk from
their mothers.
Two or three weeks after birth, the young seals
start to shed their white coat. This is called moulting. The young seals are
then called ragged jackets because their coats are a shabby mix of white and
grey. After the old coat has been completely shed, the seals are called
beaters. The beaters have a soft, spotted-grey coat.
After the young have been nursed to a healthy size,
the females abandon them. The young are then on their own. They will drift
south on the melting ice and then they turn around and swim north to meet the
fresh ice. They keep doing this until June month. After June, they migrate to
their feeding grounds off Greenland. In the fall, the whole herd moves south
again. |
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The seal hunt off the east coast of Canada goes back
hundreds of years. In fact, the hunt is probably thousands of years old. The
Inuit (Eskimo) have hunted seals for many centuries. The Maritime Archaic
Indians and other early people probably hunted seals. In the 1800s, the seal
hunt was the second-most valuable industry in Newfoundland. (The most valuable
industry was the cod fishery.)
In the late 1970s, the hunt was worth about $5.5 million
to the economy of Atlantic Canada. Recently, the hunt has put around $12
million into the economy each year.
This year's seal hunt began early in April. That is a
month later than usual. Twenty-five vessels took part in this year's hunt. This
compares with around 130 in most years. Most of the ships taking part in the
hunt are longliners. Years ago, many bigger vessels took part in the hunt. Big
ships have not taken part in the hunt since 1987. Landsmen also take part in
the seal hunt. Landsmen go out in speedboats and longliners and hunt seals
closer to shore.
Seals give birth on the ice floes. Some seals whelp (give
birth) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. There wasn't much ice in the Gulf this
year. As a result, the seal hunt there was a failure. Other seals give birth at
The Front. The Front is an area off southern Labrador and the northeast coast
of Newfoundland. No hunting is allowed on the whelping ice.
There are around 10,000 licensed sealers in Newfoundland.
About half of these take part in the hunt. Almost one and a half million seals
have been taken during the past 10 years. A million of these were taken during
the past four years.
The price paid for seal pelts has gone down. Last year, a
top quality beater pelt sold for $25. This year, the price is $13. (A beater is
a young harp seal that no longer has a white coat.) The high cost of fuel makes
it very expensive to hunt for seals.
There have been many protests against the seal hunt over
the years. Brian Davies, Brigitte Bardot, and William Shatner are some of the
people who have spoken out against the hunt. There have been protests in Europe
this year.
The main focus of the hunt is the harp seal. Years ago,
the main hunt would be for young seals called white coats. It is now illegal to
kill these young seals. It is also against the law to kill hood seals up to
three years old.
At one time, the seals may have been in danger of
extinction. But that does not seem to be the case now. The seal population off
the east coast is now estimated to be around six million. There are around 5.4
million harp seals and 400,000 hood seals. The seals also affect other species.
Seals eat many tons of caplin, codfish, and other marine life every year .
"We've got a seal herd that is out of control," says
Earle McCurdy. "One way or another, that herd has to be trimmed." Mr. McCurdy
is president of the FFAW (Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union). |
