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| The HSUS |
Fashion photographer Nigel Barker and HSUS
President and CEO Wayne Pacelle in Canada. |
By Natalie Ragan
For the last ten years, nothing has deterred Rebecca Aldworth from documenting the beauty of the baby harp seals on the ice floes of Atlantic Canada, or the inhumane slaughter that happens just a few short weeks later.
This weekend that same determination reflected in the faces of other guests at the seals nursery.
Gail force winds, cancelled flights, and a blinding snowstorm couldn’t keep HSUS President and CEO Wayne Pacelle, world-renowned fashion photographer and judge on the reality show “America’s Next Top Model” Nigel Barker, British actress Alison Steadman and her filmmaker son Leo Leigh, and members of Humane Society International/UK from reaching Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island.
"This is just another part of the adventure and one small obstacle we need to overcome to get to the baby seals," said Barker, trapped on icy roads for hours.
His optimism was well met when, this morning, Mother Nature delivered a sunny day for searching out seals in Canada's wilderness. And while spirits ran high, no one lost track of the reason for their visit: that in three weeks time, the same infant seals who will be lazily sunning themselves on the ice will be slaughtered for their fur. The images captured in the next few days must remind the world that this massacre is as destructive as it is unacceptable in a civilized 21st century world.
That ambition was the inspiration for Nigel, Wayne, Alison and Leo to push through dangerous weather conditions to get to the baby seals and will undoubtedly keep their morale high as they strive to bring awareness and end the seal hunt once and for all. Read more on the expedition here.
