“THE ONLY THINGS THAT EVER MADE A DIFFERENCE ARE THE ACTS OF INDIVIDUALS” --Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Ypsilanti, Michigan—Local grass-roots activists along with Students for Animal Rights of Eastern Michigan University invite you to attend a very special event. Captain Paul Watson—founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), founding director of the Greenpeace Foundation, and one of the world’s most famous and revered activists—is coming to Michigan. He will speak about his organization’s remarkable efforts to protect marine wildlife, with a particular focus on the annual Canadian seal slaughter. He will further discuss how we can independently effect change and end this slaughter by boycotting Canadian seafood.

When:              Sunday, September 18, 2005

                        2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Where:             Pease Auditorium, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti (directions at end*)

The Canadian commercial seal hunt is the largest mass slaughter of marine mammals in the world. Every year approximately 500,000 baby seals are either clubbed with a hakapik or are shot, maimed, and drown in the icy waters off the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

·        The slaughter of seals is incredibly cruel (independent vet teams confirm that about 42% of the seals are skinned alive).

·        Scientists and environmentalists believe the hunt is a threat to the survival of the species. The last time sealers killed this many seals in the ’50s and ’60s, close to two-thirds of the harp seal population was wiped out.

·        The hunt provides less than 5% of each sealer’s income, and in Newfoundland, where 90% of the sealers live, it accounts for less than one-tenth of one percent of the province’s economy.

·        Babies are often slaughtered as their mothers watch in helpless horror.

·        About 95% of the seal pups slaughtered are under the age of 4 weeks old. Most have not eaten solid food or taken their first swim. They have no way to escape their assailants.

·        Canadian officials defend the slaughter by blaming the collapse of the lucrative Labrador cod industry on seal predation. In truth, experts confirm that mismanagement and overfishing are responsible for the crash. Only 3% of the seals’ diet consists of cod, and these losses are more than offset because the seals also feed on the predators of cod such as squid.

The annual slaughter is unnecessary as well as unconscionably barbaric. The seals are killed primarily for their skins and furs to be used for vanity items. The meat is unpalatable. The ice floes are stained bright red with blood, and the rotting carcasses of the dead pups extend for miles while the remaining helpless victims await their terrible fate. It is an incredibly horrific sight that no human with an inkling of compassion could bear. Yet the butchery continues and the kill quotas are actually increasing, while most people, even many Canadians, remain unaware.

Captain Paul Watson has fought relentlessly for decades to end this atrocity. Each spring he visits the killing fields off the coast of Canada in an attempt to expose the brutality of the slaughter, which the Canadian government endeavors to hide, and to place his body between the vicious killers and their helpless victims. Serving as testament to the effectiveness of his efforts, the Canadian government has made Captain Watson a target of intense harassment. He is perceived as a terrorist by some and an ecowarrior by others, but his militancy is fueled by his strong sense of connectedness to the living earth as expressed in his passionate belief that all life is rich, beautiful, valuable, and sacred. His determination has made him one of the greatest and most controversial animal/environmental activists of all time. He has on more than one occasion barely escaped physical attacks by sealers wielding hakapiks and whalers firing high-powered harpoons over his head. He has even served prison time in his crusade for justice, peace, and his love of the natural world and all its creatures. He is truly an inspiration to us all. Donations to his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which does such wonderful work, will be welcome and encouraged, and SSCS items such as shirts, books, and DVDs will be on sale for purchase by cash or check. Order forms will be available for credit card purchases. Please visit the Sea Shepherd website (www.seashepherd.org) for additional information on Captain Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

This is the ONLY American stop on the Captain’s tour, so we urge you to attend this very special event. We guarantee you will be inspired, motivated, and committed to “individually” make a difference…

Contributions to SSCS prior to the event can be made:

1.      Online by visiting www.seashepherd.org

2.      Via check or money order mailed to

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

P.O. Box 2616

Friday Harbor, WA 98250

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY, AND WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18.

*Directions:

US 23 Northbound and Southbound (from Toledo or Flint)

Take US-23 to Exit 37A Washtenaw Avenue (to Ypsilanti). Go East on Washtenaw (from the southbound exit you will automatically go East; from the northbound exit turn right at the end of the ramp). Continue on Washtenaw about 3-4 miles to the water tower, bear left onto Emmett Street, then turn left on College Place. You will cross Cross Street, and Pease Auditorium will be on the right.

I-94 Eastbound (from Jackson)

Take I-94 East to Exit 180/US-23 (North). Take US-23 to Exit 37A Washtenaw Avenue (to Ypsilanti). Go East on Washtenaw about 3-4 miles to the water tower, bear left onto Emmett Street, then turn left on College Place. You will cross Cross Street, and Pease Auditorium will be on the right.

I-94 Westbound (from Detroit)

Take I-94 West to Exit 183, Huron Street. Turn Right on Huron Street, then left on West Cross Street. At the stoplight, turn Right onto College Place. Pease Auditorium will be on the right.

For further information, contact Darryl Braun at 313 277-1466 or email darryl_braun@yahoo.com.