RCMP probe Coast Guard's actions

[CHIMO]

Source: Globe and Mail

The Canadian Coast Guard was at the centre of a federal investigation yesterday after a routine towing of a disabled fishing trawler ended in tragedy early Saturday, sending six seal hunters into the icy waters off Cape Breton where three died and one is missing but presumed dead.

Families of the seal hunters demanded a full public inquiry into the accident, in which the trawler was dragged over a chunk of ice and capsized. They said they wanted explanations for the lack of coast guard surveillance, the speed of the icebreaker and the absence of protocol for a vessel in tow.

“The coast guard sunk them,” said Damien Déraspe, brother-in-law of Carl Aucoin, 31. The father of a two-year-old, who with the other sealers lived in the village of Étang-du-Nord, was reported missing late yesterday but was believed dead.

“There were always risks, but this wasn't a hunting accident, it was a towing accident,” Mr. Déraspe said.



Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080330.wsealers31/BNStory/National/home

[babylonsister]

1. Hmmm. I'm sorry people died, but no Coast Guard is immune

to ice, danger, situations we don't really know anything about. I don't recall the CG suing people when a helo or boat goes down and Guardsmen die while trying to save people.

[Syntheto]

2. Would people be more sympathetic if a Greenpeace trawler...

...was towed in this manner as they tried to prevent the seal hunts or Japanese factory whaling ships from operating and three activists were killed? The American Coast Guard, is under the Department of Homeland Security now, instead of the Department of Transportation, and it would be crucified.

How do you think that would play out? People would say that it was Bush's oil buddies trying to open up Arctic oil fields and the activists were in the way, yada, yada, yada.

But, as this story plays now, it's just a few low-life slimeballs who club cute little baby seals to death, so they got what they deserved. That sort of callousness is very difficult to read, and some of the postings on this were sad. Everything from "It's karma; see how they like it now," to "Fuck 'em! They had it coming to them; I hope they rot in hell." The more restrained push the "They took their chances when they put to sea" line.

I am a big animal lover, and the whole seal thing deeply disgusts me, but three human beings died, and that's the bottom line. They had mothers and fathers, siblings, and some had children. They came from a small town where they made their living from the sea, so everyone was affected. Maybe if they ever start developing those methane fields in that part of the world, the people there can make a living in some other way that doesn't require clubbing a seal to death for it's fur. As it stands now, that's probably the biggest industry there.

A little tongue in cheek, but along the lines of: "You Never Know", maybe they'll genetically modify a line of fur bearing seals so that they can be shorn like sheep for their fur. Ride 'em Seal Boy, yee-haa!

I know I shouldn't get worked up about this, because, frankly, I truly believe that most people would jump in and help save anybody who was drowning, or trapped in a burning car on the highway, regardless of their race, creed, political or religious affiliation.

[shadowknows69]

3. Karma's a real bitch sometimes isn't it?

[Ian David]

4. This they'll investigate, but not the deliberate ramming of Sea Shepherd. n/t

[Algorem]

5. Boycott Canada.

[Barrett808]

6. Activists, coast guard clash over seal hunt

Source: CTV

The Farley Mowat, owned by The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and the coast guard icebreaker Des Groseilliers are shown in this handout photo on Sunday March 30, 2008. (Sea Shepherd Society / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Always a tense time in Atlantic Canada, this year's seal hunt has proved no exception, with a conservation group clashing with the Canadian Coast Guard in the Gulf of St. Lawrence just three days into the annual seal hunt.

On Sunday, the coast guard icebreaker Des Groseilliers collided with the Farley Mowat, a ship owned by the Sea Shepherd a ship owned by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

...

The conservation group claimed its ship was rammed twice by the 98-metre icebreaker, but a spokesperson for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans told The Canadian Press the Farley Mowat actually "grazed" the icebreaker twice.

Allegations that the Farley Mowat was rammed are "absolutely false," said DFO spokesperson Phil Jenkins.

"We completely reject these allegations -- they are fiction,'' Jenkins told The Canadian Press from Charlottetown. "The Farley Mowat approached the Des Groseilliers and brushed up against the side of the vessel."

But the Sea Shepherd Society claims the ship was told to stay away from the area where seals were being hunted, and when they failed to comply, the ship was rammed.

"It rammed the stern end of the Farley Mowat and when the Farley Mowat was stopped, it came back and hit them again,'' Paul Watson, head of the society, told CP from Los Angeles. "It was twice so it was intentional."

Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080331/sealing_ship_080331/20080331?hub=Canada

[sce56]

7. Of course the news will not show the pictures of the actual ramming!

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_080330_2.html


The Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker CCGS Des Groseilliers twice rammed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Farley Mowat today.

The Coast Guard had ordered the Farley Mowat to not approach the area where seals are being slaughtered. When the Farley Mowat did not comply, the Coast Guard rammed the vessel near the port aft stern area. After the Farley Mowat stopped in the ice, the Coast Guard rammed the ship a second time in the same area of the ship causing damage to the plates in that area.

The Coast Guard has demonstrated extreme recklessness with this move. The crew of the Farley Mowat were engaged in documenting the slaughter of seals. They were not interfering with the hunt.

“I’m beginning to wonder if anyone on the bridge of the Groseilliers has a license to command a ship,” said Captain Alex Cornelissen. “The incompetence of the Coast Guard has already cost the lives of four sealers this week-end and now they are ramming ships in dangerous ice conditions. This is unbelievable. It’s like the Coast Guard has declared war on seal defenders and the sealers are collateral damage.”

The Farley Mowat will remain in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and will continue to document the atrocities on the ice. Already the crew have seen enough evidence to understand that the Canadian government’s pretense that the slaughter is humane has no basis in reality – in other words it’s a state sponsored lie.

“It appears that Canada is prepared to use violence to cover-up the truth of this slaughter,” said Captain Paul Watson. “Our duty is to resist their violence and continue to document the truth.”