Nigel Barker

Hundreds of seals and their pups were scattered across the ice floes, the sun shining brilliantly down on them.

By Rebecca Aldworth

Over the past few days, world-renowned fashion photographer and judge on "America's Next Top Model" Nigel Barker used his talent and name recognition to shine a spotlight on the potential for eco-tourism at the harp seal nursery and the stark contrast of the tragedy of the pending slaughter.

As well, British actress Alison Steadman—who has already used her intelligent analysis of the seal hunt and potential economic alternatives to publicize the plight of the seals—flew thousands of miles to experience the beauty of the nursery.

Yesterday, the ProtectSeals team made its final visit of this phase of our expedition to the harp seal nursery.

As our two helicopters flew over the ice, I was amazed at how much it had moved. The seals we visited just days ago were nowhere to be seen. We spent more than an hour searching for them.

Then—out of nowhere—they appeared on the horizon. Hundreds of seals and their pups scattered across the ice floes, the sun shining brilliantly down on them. Even from the air, I could see what a fantastic environment awaited us below. I knew this would be a great day.

Nigel Barker

The seal pups were only a day or two old.

As we approached, we passed two helicopters ferrying tourists back to the Magdalen Islands after their visit to see the seals.

The pilots radioed us and confirmed they were returning in 30 minutes with another load of tourists. Clearly, the seal-watching business is doing well.

It is heartbreaking that some Magdalen Islanders feel it is acceptable for them to turn the same nursery they promote as a tourism destination into an open-air slaughterhouse a few weeks later.

Yesterday's trip to the ice was an opportunity for the ProtectSeals team and members of the media to photograph the nursery.  We landed a good distance away from the seals, walking to where the pups cavorted and nursed from their mothers. We spotted two young pups sleeping alone.

Mother seals often leave their pups for short periods, but appear every few minutes. On cue, one mother popped up in a nearby blowhole—satisfied we posed no threat, she retreated again into the water. Ever vigilant, she reappeared every few minutes.  

As I admired this mom protectively watching her young pup, I was struck with the knowledge that she was one of the lucky ones. She escaped the slaughter when she was only a few weeks old. I then wondered how many of her pups have been lost to this senseless slaughter.

One of my favorite things to do on the ice is to lie down a few feet from seal pups, and close my eyes repeatedly. The pups mimic you, closing theirs in turn. After a minute or two, they get quite sleepy and trustingly doze off. We photographed the napping pups for a while and then crept back across the ice.

Nigel Barker

Completely trusting and innocent.

In another area, a tiny pup - just one day old - slept on her back. 

Awaking to nibble a bit of snow, she saw us photographing her. Curious, she crawled over to the photographer and put her nose on his camera.

He was clearly charmed and began to talk very softly to her. As we moved away to film more seals, he stayed with her. As he started to retreat across the ice, the tiny pup began to follow as though hoping she could come with us.

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye. The light was fading, and the day—along with our expedition—was ending.  Flying over this fantastic icy world, I said a silent prayer that these seal pups would be spared what I know is coming in just a few weeks.

It is so hard to leave here, knowing the sealers are already gearing up their boats, preparing to kill these pups in horrible ways.

When the commercial seal hunt begins, we will be ready. As devastating as it is to bear witness to this annual slaughter, we are making real headway in this campaign. With a pending decision from the European Commission on a potential seal product trade ban, there is hope that prices for seal fur will continue to decline.

Every day, more companies and people are signing our boycott pledge, creating overwhelming economic pressure on the Canadian fishing industry to stop killing seals.

I've campaigned for more than a decade to stop the commercial seal hunt, and I can sense that we have reached a critical mass. This is the year we can force the Canadian government to put an end to this slaughter. Please stand with us as we return to these pristine ice floes.

Help us be the eyes of the world at the commercial seal hunt by visiting www.humanesociety.org/protectseals for daily updates, photographs and footage—live from the ice.