Right now, harp seal mothers are giving birth to their pups on the spectacular white ice floes off Canada's east coast.

I know from experience that the spectacle is amazing. About 50 miles out to sea, the ice covering the ocean forms a magical landscape as far as the eye can see. The mothers and their pups lie contentedly in the sun, while the male seals perform their unique water ballet in nearby open leads of water. The baby seals are now fat from their mothers' milk, their fluffy white bodies almost completely round, luminous eyes blinking up from adorable, sleepy faces.

And I know that tourists from all around the world are gathering there to witness this magnificent spectacle. Like me, they will be awestruck by the charismatic and friendly seals, by the startling beauty of the icy surroundings, and most of all, by the absolute peace you feel in this pristine environment. The harp seal pups are so trusting of people that these tourists will easily be able to get close enough to them to touch them.

So it is truly heartbreaking that in just two weeks, I expect to be on those same ice floes, not to enjoy the harp seal nursery, but to witness Canada's brutal commercial seal hunt.

Beginning in the last week of March, the Canadian government will allow hundreds of thousands of defenseless baby seals to be brutally slaughtered for their skins. And The Humane Society of the United States will be there to stand with the seals and document the massacre.

This will be my seventh expedition to the seal hunt. Over the past six years, I have seen so much harm done to these gentle creatures, and there are images I know I will never be able to erase from my mind. Seals struggling in vain as they are sliced open. Such tiny little bodies, their skins peeled off, piled by the hundreds, their lifeless eyes staring into the distance, empty Coke cans and cigarette packs carelessly tossed into the open graves. A seal suffocating in her own blood, raising her head from the pile of dead seals she was dumped on, crying for help that would never come. The few survivors, terrified and covered in blood, left to crawl through the abandoned carcasses.

It is dehumanizing to watch this kind of violence. But without witnesses, this brutality would continue in silence, far away from the eyes of the public.

That is why we are asking you to be a part of our expedition. While The HSUS team is on the ice floes this year, I will keep an online journal about our experiences. Please visit our web site each day to get updates, and then find out what you can do to help us stop Canada's commercial seal hunt for good.

—Rebecca Aldworth