Seal activists to apply pressure
Dear sir,
Can you believe it? Just 46 days until the Namibian seal hunt is set to begin. This, of course, is if the Namibian Ombudsman does not make a ruling against the massacre before then.
Things do not look good. Bernard Esau, the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, has recently increased the number of concessionaires from three to six.
Even the sealers themselves are not happy with this and say there are simply not enough seals to kill. There are also indications that the quota is going to be increased to over 100 000 animals. For Esau to make such a public statement means either he chooses to ignore the powers of the ombudsman, or else the entire ombudsman’s meeting which was held in September last year was nothing but a complete farce.
We have decided to increase the pressure and up the ante. We have launched 47 days of activism. All our partners are encouraged to join us. Why 47 days? Because age is but a number! These 47 days will form the build up to our Beach Masters Campaign in which we will have representatives on the ground in Namibia.
On Tuesday, Sandra from The Foundation for Antarctic Research flew to Los Angeles to attend a reunion of the American Film Institute. She was armed with 500 full sized posters showing the atrocities of the Namibian seal massacre.
This week, we have launched an Avaaz petition. At the time of writing, this petition has just hit 237 signatures. We intend to reach a target of 20 000. Please sign the petition and share it! Post the link on your Facebook account. Send it out via twitter and email it to all your contacts. This is the only way we are going to win this.
Our Beach Masters will deliver the petition to Esau in front of the international media at the start of the Beach Master campaign.
Beach Masters? What is the plan? We will have volunteers on the ground in Namibia. They will be accompanied by a professional film maker. We know it is illegal to film the hunt. That is not our intention. Our actions will be strictly above board. We are not going in undercover. We are Beach Masters. We are bold. We are territorial. We fight for what is right.
There is even a possibility that Germany’s main public broadcaster will accompany us.
We are currently open to accepting more volunteers. We are prepared to cover all accommodation, food and transport costs while in Namibia. We request that our volunteers wear our Seals Of Nam tops at all times. These are black long sleeve sweatshirts with our logo emblazoned on them. Email [email protected] if you wish to volunteer or for further details.
The success of this campaign is dependent on what funds are available. If you would like to assist us in covering the costs (rental of house, rental of vehicles, petrol costs, food, printing of leaflets etc) PLEASE do so. The longer we are there, the more we can intensify the pressure. You can make a donation via Crowdrise http://www.crowdrise.com/TheSealsofNam/fundraiser/sandrabirnhak or alternatively if you wish to make a cash deposit please mail [email protected] for banking details.
The Team
The Seals of Nam
