Angry fishermen forced the seal hunt protest vessel, Farley Mowat, out of the harbour at St-Pierre-Miquelon - a French territory south of Newfoundland - where it was tied up for refuelling Friday morning.Has anyone calculated the carbon footprint of this tub? No matter, it would be far more useful as a fishing reef.
About 20 fishermen cut the mooring lines of the Mowat with axes and vowed not to let them in the harbour following comments about four dead sealers earlier in the week from Paul Watson, of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which operates the Mowat.
"And I piss on your birkenstocks from a great height."
"We don't accept those kinds of people in St-Pierre," fisherman Carl Beaupertuis told the CBC. "We cut the rope and let the boat go.... If they want to come back I tell you this time there's going to be some violence, ‘cause we won't let him back in the harbour. No way."
"It was that or use the accursed hippies for shark bait, and there are few sharks in these waters."
The confrontation was in protest at comments Mr. Watson made the day before when he said the deaths of four Magdalen Islands sealers were a tragedy, but the slaughter of young seals was a "greater tragedy."
"These men are sadistic baby killers," Mr. Watson said in a statement, who are "seeking sympathy because some of their own died.
"One of the sealers was quoted as saying that he felt absolutely helpless as he watched the boat sink with sealers onboard. I can't think of anything that defines helplessness and fear more than a seal pup on the ice that can't swim or escape as it is approached by some cigarette smoking ape with a club."
Sensitive bastard, isn't he? Expect protests from simian-citizens groups any minute.
Yesterday, Mr. Watson stood by his words. "I said the sealers who died, it was a tragedy and the Canadian government's incompetence led to the deaths. Killing 325,000 seals is a far greater tragedy ... and I stand by that comment."
On the other hand, a spread of torpedoes hitting this pirate scow might or might not be an accident, but it would certainly not be a tragedy. It looks formidible enough terrorizing 40 foot sealing boats but even French naval weapons would make short work of it.
Mr. Watson's ship is now anchored at the neighbouring island of Miquelon awaiting the resumption of the hunt next week.
Naval commandoes in Brest checking airline connections......
Mr. Watson's comments were also attacked this week by Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. "By attacking and trivializing the memory of these men who tragically lost their lives, Mr. Watson has proven to the world that he is gutless, shameless, and has not one shred of human decency," said Mr. Hearn.
Yesterday, the minister appointed retired Rear Admiral Roger Girouard to lead a Canadian Coast Guard investigation of the events and circumstances leading to and following the capsizing of L'Acadien II on March 29. "With his vast experience and knowledge I am confident he will ensure that this investigation will determine what happened off the coast of Cape Breton Island, and will help to prevent such tragedies in the future," said Mr. Hearn.
The bodies of Bruno Bourque, Gilles Leblanc and Marc-André Déraspe were retrieved from the boat. The body of Carl Aucoin has not been found
As the article indicates, St. Pierre and Miquelon is French territory, the only remnant of French Canada.