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Reporting Cities: Just a quick note about our protest in Annapolis, MD. We had 16 people, a few left before the picture was taken - overcome by the heat. We had no coverage from our local newspaper, The Capital. I sent them a rather caustic e-mail about that. Also, the Baltimore TV station sent someone - I did an interview, but they didn't show it. Basically, we had quite a few thumbs up and honks, but these people really need educating. Some of the comments from passing cars - "What's wrong with Canadian seafood?" and "Why are you picking on the Red Lobster?" As you can see, we have some work to do. I just don't think we're getting the coverage we need. - Marlene Behrend.
We had an extremely dedicated and determined group of ten outside the Red Lobster restaurant on Atlanta Highway in Athens, Georgia, the place my acupuncturist calls the "upwardly spiraling vortex."We had many honks of support. Only a few people who had eaten at the restaurant came to talk; one man, holding his little girl, told me that the manager of the restaurant was inside laughing at us. Calmly, I said, "That's his right. But I imagine if he were to see the films of the seal killings, he wouldn't be laughing." I thought mentioning to a father of a baby girl that the harp pups are killed at less than two weeks of age might have an effect, but it didn't seem to. Oh, well, doesn't matter, if just one person who drove by or ate at the restaurant thought more about the hunt, or realized it was taking place, and started asking questions ... then that's what we were there for. The other plus is that ten people made a connection and will come together again to help animals in distress. One of our demonstrators drove almost two hours from South Carolina to attend! We all would have gladly stayed longer! - Cheryldee Huddleston We had a great turnout for the Red Lobster demonstration in Aurora, IL, on June 25, 2005. Around 40 people participated in the protest, and many of them were young children and first-time protestors. It was a very hot day in Aurora (around 90 degrees) and we were concerned about the heat, but it really helped when the sprinklers were conveniently turned on during our protest. :-) We positioned ourselves in a line that ran the length of the Red Lobster property, facing a very busy Rt. 59. Not only did we reach a lot of people that were driving in the shopping area, but we had a few families who walked out of Red Lobster. After the protest we developed a listserv, which will allow all of us to stay in contact for future events. - Patty Ruback, Bonny Dieter
We had our demonstration here in Austin, Texas at the Red Lobster Restaurant on South Lamar. We had close to 30 people who showed up and it was a great success. We stood there with our signs and people blew their horns as they drove by and we knew in our heart of hearts that we were doing the right thing. We did it for the seals and we will not stop until Red Lobster agrees to boycott Canadian seafood and end the cruel seal hunt once and for all. We want to thank all the others who held demos throughout the United States and Canada. Fight the fight and never, ever give up! Committed in Austin, Timothy J. Verret and other animal activists.
Saturday, June 25th was a hot day for Southern California and even hotter for the
management of Red Lobster restaurant in Brea, CA. When I arrived there were about 20
protesters already at the location marching on the sidewalk. As I introduced myself
to Debbie MacCarter, the protest organizer, and her husband Jeff, we were greeted by
a couple of smiling managers from Red Lobster. They brought a crate of bottled water
for all the protesters and even offered the use of their restrooms. When I asked them
what their thoughts were about the Canadian seal slaughter, they said “no comment.” Hmm…..they
knew enough about this protest to offer us water, but had nothing to say about the
reason we were there?
Our demo went great. We had approx. 20-25 volunteers. Response from those driving by was nearly 100% positive--lots of tooting of horns, thumbs up, etc. Logistically it was very difficult to reach patrons directly, and virtually no one walked by on the sidewalk. The Red Lobster isn't located in a heavily pedestrian area. However we did hand out a bunch of leaflets to those who slowed down and stopped to ask questions. We did observe one couple drive their vehicle into the RL lot and park, get out of the car, point to our signs, get back in car and leave! - Randy Atlas, President, Animal Advocates of Western New York
Overall, a real success! I estimate we had about 35 people show up over the 2 and 1/2 hours we were out there. We were able to turn a few Red Lobster patrons away from going into the restaurant and we had a lot supporters honking horns in response to my daughter's last minute poster "Honk to Save the Seals!" We passed out nearly all our leaflets to interested individuals. Two of our protesters (one with a bullhorn) led the crowd with a variety of chants in support of the cause. Wanted to inform you of two negative responses we got so that we can do our best to educate the ignorant on the real issues. One woman made the comment, "People should come first," and something else to the effect that we should be demonstrating for a cause that furthers human welfare before animal welfare. ( I wonder what human rights causes she has championed lately) The second was a woman (who I believe just had lunch at Red Lobster) confronted our protesters saying, "Red Lobster doesn't club seals, why don't you read your own signs?" When we tried to talk to her and explain that Red Lobster supports the seal slaughter by refusing to join the boycott, she walked away refusing to listen or even take a leaflet to read later. Saturday, September 17, 2005 Graphic signs and the LCA News Van's continuous-loop video footage depicted in gruesome detail the bludgeoning of baby seals--and the assault on Sea Shepherd activists--by burly, brutal hunt thugs who turned the ocean red and broke maternal hearts as they carried out the unconscionable, government-sanctioned infanticide. Customers engaged positively with activists--and passing motorists honked almost non-stop in solidarity. One large group of prospective diners walked away--showing support by refusing to patronize the restaurant and pledging not to return until Red Lobster changed its stance. One activist used amplified sound to make sure the diners--and management--were "treated" to a clamorous and relentless barage of grisly facts and moral upbraiding for their support of the largest marine mammal massacre on Earth. The following points were made:
In a shameless display of dollars before decency; money before morality; and profit before principle, the Darden Corporation stands out as an egregious bastion of corporate corruption and animal abuse. We inhabit the Earth with other species who have just as much right to be here as you do--who don't want to be hurt any more than you do. We share the planet with other mothers who don't want to see their children tortured or murdered any more than you would want to witness such a fate befall a child of yours. Expand your horizons. Take two minutes tonight from your television viewing and your Internet surfing to place a call to 1-800 LOBSTER to reach the Darden Corporation directly and express your outrage at their complicity in the assassination of hundreds of thousands of infant harp seals. Promising to return until Red Lobster adopts the ethical course, the activists departed peacefully. By Lindy Green
You'll notice MAJOR street traffic in photos, this Red Lobster is off one the craziest/busiest intersections in the county. Exceptional poster visibility maintained for 4 hours (see photos). Foot traffic was disappointing so distributed several hundred leaflets to drive-by traffic in front of the restaurant, at the intersection, at a major parade a block away and at a large regional mall down the street (had an additional 2100 leaflets printed). Limited leaflets were distributed at the front door of the Red Lobster which was located off the parking lot, not off the street (picture attached).Participants: 11 dedicated and passionate volunteers. A lot of people don't seem to know that this seal hunt is in existence. Some who knew about it thought that it was ended many years ago so ongoing education seems to be in order. As mentioned above, we didn't get to have a lot of one-on-one conversations so I'm sure if we had, I'd have more specific information in terms of responses and reactions. - Learned a lot and would know how to do an even better job if we were to do this
again. All of the volunteers said they would do it again. Wendy Slater
I thought the protest went very well at Orange Place in Cleveland, OH. We gave the pamphlet and printout from the web site to the manager at Traders Joe and he was very receptive and was planning to send the information on to the one who buys the fish. People were receptive. We also put the fliers on many parked cars at Bob Evans and an office bldg. and a hotel. - Carol There were 8 of us in front of the Red Lobster on Polaris Pkwy in Columbus, Ohio. It was extremely hot and I feel that was the reason a lot of people did not show. I was expecting around 20. Next time, I will schedule it in the evening - the dinner hour at the restaurant for a lot of people. I had 250 more leaflets made up and we passed out all of the bundle from the Humane Society. Some of the people took some with them as well. We got a lot of horn honking from passing cars and we took that as a good thing. We did get a bit of a hassle from security for the Polaris Fashion Place Mall located behind the Red Lobster. After our time was done, he said we could not pass out the leaflets to cars stopped at the light. He claimed that it was Mall property. I am going to call our Mayor's Action Line and see if this is a true statement. I am very disappointed that one of our local TV stations did not show - they had told me it was a news worthy event and would cover it. I am going to send her an email to find out what happened. Other than that, I am very proud to have been a part of this great cause. I have been praying daily asking for help in stopping this slaughter. I am very anxious to find out the results of everyone's efforts for the babies. - Kathy Our Red Lobster protest in Coral Springs, Florida, was a huge success. We had over 30 people come join us – the news even came! We also had our local radio station make an announcement about it [POWER 96 www.wpow.com ]. We had our protesters sign pre-written letters to the Red Lobster managers and walk in and hand it to them, also we had GREAT support from the public – we actually turned over 5 cars away and had a lot of people honking at us! It was an amazing protest. It was supposed to go from 12-2, instead it ran from 11:30-3:00! We really did make a difference! Thanks for all your help to the animals! - Michael DiMartino, Founder/President, PPAW (People for the Protection of Animal Welfare) I'm the organizer for the only protest that took place in the State of Missouri. We got a wonderful reception from most of the general public. Countless vehicles honked their horns, people waved, or gave us the "thumbs up" signal. We even had some motorists unexpectedly buy all of us some ice and bottled water to drink. They said they just wanted to thank us for standing in the blazing sun to be a voice for the seals. I have done MANY protests in the past, and I can honestly say I have NEVER experienced such a tremendously favorable response from the male population. Usually men are the ones who yell obscenities, flip you off, or throw things at you during other protests. However, I would say that the majority of honking horns and friendly waving came from men. The viscious massacre of the baby seals seems to have hit a really raw nerve in the male population. HURRAY!!!!!!! Because of the sizzling sun, swelterting humidity, and a heat index of 105 degrees, we did not get the big turnout of protesters who had said they'd be there. We ended up with 20 protesters instead of 32. However, this group was very dedicated and braved the heat for 90 minutes. I personally intend to still keep protesting at other local Red Lobster restaurants. - Catherine Mizerany
Dallas had a fantastic event with 54 protesters. That is a huge turn out for this area – the largest for any demo I’ve organized. The response from everyone was mostly positive. Several people decided to eat somewhere else. - Caron Byl, Animal Connection of Texas
I pulled into the shopping complex behind the Red Lobster Restaurant, expecting to see a few fellow demonstrators like myself. Instead, I saw a police car, a tow truck, and 3-4 managers standing outside of the restaurant. So there we were, a meek, inexperienced group of 11, waving our signs to the oncoming traffic. At the first few lights, passengers were unwilling to make any type of eye contact. It was like we weren’t event there. Several long minutes went by, and I think we were all getting a little discouraged. After awhile, people were finally starting to notice us. Barb was the first person to approach the car and hand them a leaflet. Instead of throwing it out the window like I expected, I could see that they were actually reading it. Someone else rolled down their window and stuck out their hand. I ran to them as quickly as I could, trying to beat the light before it turned green. “Thank you so much for reading why we are out here today.” After that red light changed to green, we all felt more comfortable being out there, and realized the power that each of us was holding that day. With every red light, we got bolder and bolder, approaching cars with uttermost confidence. “Please, will you take this leaflet and read it when you get a chance?” Politeness is a word I cannot stress enough. Had we been obnoxious and demanding, I think people would have viewed us differently. We reached a lot of people that day, and we all felt happy, proud, and filled with hope. “How long are we boycotting?” everyone asked. My response is as long as it takes. You cannot imagine the positive response we got from people passing by. By the end of the day, we no longer had to ask people if they’d want our flyers; they were asking us for flyers. Thank you Sea Shepherd and the HSUS, for helping us make the demonstration a success. Thank you Tim Bayliss for taking such wonderful pictures; and thank you to everyone who showed up that day to show their support for the seals. I’ve never met such a wonderful and inspiring group of people. - Miki McLean
Lakewood, California - August 27, 2005 Well…this is the 3rd month of Red Lobster protests, and the seal slaughter protest troops were out in full force again. This time it was the RL in Lakewood, CA - a seemingly mundane town of working class people in southern Los Angeles County.
This is a battle to inform. Virtually no one I talked to knew about the Canadian seal slaughter, and I talked to over 100 people on this hot summer night. The sun was blazing and so were our passions. We had babies in strollers holding signs, young ones climbing trees holding banners, and grandmothers voicing their outrage that the bloody clubbing of baby seals continues to be supported by Red Lobster. There was a lot of traffic at this location, both foot and car. As we lined the sidewalk, the cars were backing up on the street to see what all the fuss was about. I stood at the main traffic light and approached the cars as they waited for the light to change. Got 15 seconds to make my case, hand them a flyer, then moved on to the next one. Only had 2 people say they were glad to hear Canada wants to kill 350,000 seals, everyone else was appalled. Also, put the flyers on all the cars in the parking lot, and the place was packed! Saw one person pull up in a Hummer. I quietly watched her try to dock the beast, then quickly put 2 flyers on her window as she strolled into the restaurant.
There were other protesters talking with the people waiting to get into RL and convinced several potential customers to walk away. Good job Angela Gadberry and Robb Mead (Orange County wing of Harpseals.org) of stating your case so effectively. Thanks to everyone for giving up their Saturday dinner time to stand up and let it be known that we will not rest until the sun sets on the Canadian seal slaughter. By Kurt Lieber, Sea Shepherd Board Member and Founder of Ocean Defenders Alliance The demonstration in Lansdale, Pa went well. Unfortunately, there was confusion about the exact site of the demonstration and several people failed to find us, but we had about 10 people. We had one negative response and the rest were honks and thumbs-ups. Amy made a fantastic sign on a huge board and I had seal stuffed animals which we put around the sign. The Red Lobster employees noticed us and were pointing so we got their attention. The signs were perfect that were sent to us to use. I consider it a success. Thank-you!! - Erica Mumford I organised the demo in Manassas. There were 15 of us. It went very well. Nobody from Red Lobster bothered us and the police did not come. People in cars were very positive. They were blowing horns, waving and giving us the thumbs up. Many took our leaflets. Some asked for a few so they could tell their neighbors. I really hope this has helped. I am willing to do it again and do all I can to stop the seal slaughter. - Kimberly Heseltine
This is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We protested at the Red Lobster in Wauwatosa from 12-2 on June 25, 2005. It was a great time. We used our new megaphone to chant "Hey, Red Lobster what do you say? Take a stand for the seals today!" And we also chanted "Stop the torture, stop the pain! Red lobster, you should be ashamed!" When we saw customers, we used that time to rest our throats, and spout off facts about the brutal seal slaughters. One couple even turned and left! Fun was had by all, and I think we had a very effective 2 hours. We handed out literature, sweated, burned and smelled in the heat. But none of that stopped the upbeat enthusiastic attitudes of all of the activists. Red Lobster even tried to hand us drinks, but we proudly declined, until they make a change for the seals. Sadly, the media didn't show, as they said they would! - Theresa Stockheimer
Nearly fifty enthusiastic activists braved the oppressive heat June 25th outside the Red Lobster restaurant in Novi, Michigan, holding signs and banners aimed at raising awareness of the annual seal slaughter and imploring America's largest importer of Canadian seafood to join the global boycott initiated to force an end to the barbaric massacre. The demonstration lasted two hours, and while we were rather disappointed with the poor media attention, we did receive impressive coverage in a major area newspaper and from the administrators of two important websites.
Because the restaurant is located between a major thoroughfare and a busy shopping mall, demonstrators had access to myriad commuters in addition to the restaurant patrons. Passersby slowed to read signs, honked horns and gave us thumbs up in apparent approval of our message. A number of the commuters, including a few prospective patrons of the restaurant accepted leaflets or inquired about further information, and it appears likely we even succeeded in dissuading a few patrons from dining at the Red Lobster. Michigan activists remain committed to this humane crusade and stand ready to participate in future seal events. - Darryl Braun
I handled the Peoria, Illinois demonstration. I was hoping for a few more people, but there ended up being four of us. The Red Lobster is on a corner, surrounded by road, so this turned out to work well. We all held up a sign at each corner. I printed off the "former customer letter" so we could pass this out w/the leaflets. People were shocked to learn of what was going on and many stopped to ask questions and take the information. One gentleman gave me his super sized water he'd just gotten for lunch. This gentleman made me laugh. As he left, he went around the Red Lobster honking to draw attention to us. He also did this while stopped to turn at the stop light, while smiling and giving me a big "thumbs up". Hope everyone else had a good turn out and I am definitely interested to do as many as needed. Thank you for caring too. - Suzy There were a total of six protesters: three for the lunch protest at Red Lobster in Reno - Fran Aperones, Erin Dugas and Heather Singer - and five for the evening protest - Fran Aperones, Heather Singer, Vicki Clarke, Vicki's daughter, Michelle, and Michelle's boyfriend, Randy. There were many supportive drivers who honked and gave us a thumbs-up! - Heather
I am writing about the Red Lobster protest held in San Jose, CA at the Aborn location on June 25th. We only had 6 people come out to join us and unfortunately the one holding the poster you sent me is also the one taking the photo. But, overall it was a good event. We were on the corner of a very, very busy intersection and people were slowing down to read our posters and looking closely at them while sitting at the red lights. We must have reached at least 1000 people in 2 hours. The restaurant manager was pacing the parking lot the entire time, so I think we made him nervous, which made me very happy. I hope we were able to do some good by educating the public and putting pressure on Red Lobster to join the ban even though we were small in number. - Lisa Hicks
I was the organizer of a Red Lobster demonstration in Springfield, PA. We had about ten or twelve people. We all agreed that we really got our point across! Five people signed letters of boycott and went in to give it to the store manager. Also, many people didn't understand the connection between Red Lobster and seals. Our group did a great job educating them. We are thinking about doing a monthly rally until the seal hunt ends. - Megan Clossey
Tigard, Oregon & Vancouver, Washington We had 2 events in our area. One in Tigard, Oregon and one in Vancouver, WA. We had
8 people at our Tigard demo and 11 at our WA demo. I was at the Vancouver, WA demo
and we handed out almost all our literature and had great interactions and responses
from passers by. I've included some pix for you of the Tigard event.
I was the coordinator for the Westchester demonstration. Eighteen people demonstrated that very hot day from noon to 1:30 pm. We were on a very busy main shopping road (central avenue) where 40-50 cars past by every 3 -4 minutes. We had a lot of media coverage. On 6/25 a.m., a very thorough, compassionate, large article with a picture of a sealer w/ a hakapik just ready to club a seal was in the center of the article. The next day, the same newspaper ran a story of our demo with pix of us holding signs. Also, Channel 12, our local newstation, filmed us and interviewed me. They ran the story at 5:00 pm, then it was repeated every half-hour until late into the evening. The next day (all day), Channel 12 ran: animal activists boycott canadian seafood in front of red lobster" on the ticker tape. I think it was a great day for us. I know we made a difference all around the country and in Canada. - Loraine Izzo Click to go to Sea Shepherd's Home Page |
Saturday began somewhat disappointing. Out of the 20 people that emailed me, only
two showed! So with a total of three people, we had to improvise. We stapled the leftover
posters to sticks and stuck them in the ground right beside the busy street. Meanwhile,
I went around the Red Lobster parking lot handing out fliers to customers and sticking
them under windshield wipers of every single car in the parking lot. The leftover fliers
went on the vehicles in the Greenwood Mall parking lot. Even though there were only
three of us out there that day, we reached hundreds of people. It was surprising to
me the number of people that I actually spoke with that weren't even aware the seal
hunt was going on. One couple in particular told me that they remembered seeing it
on TV back in the 80's and thought that it was banned. They said they couldn't believe
the nerve of the Canadian government to allow such a horrible thing to go on. After
speaking with another young woman who had just left the restaurant, with gaping mouth
and wide eyes, all she could say was, "Those poor seals." 
The demonstration in Jonesboro, Georgia was very small but nonetheless enthusiastic.
There were about 10 people in attendance, all of whom were grateful to meet each other
and united in the cause. We encountered no problems with Red Lobster management or
the Clayton County police. We were surprised that everyone we spoke with had no idea
about the seal "hunt," much less about the connection between the seal "hunt," the
Canadian fishing industry, and Red Lobster. Some people wanted to know which items
they should not order from the menu. And we were happy to receive several car horn
honks, "thumbs up" signs and "okay" signs from passing motorists.
Special thanks to Iris, Jimmy, Lamorah, Leigh, Judy and Jason for all of their support!
- For the seals, Dawn Maynor Lewis.
The troops were organized by Jennifer Lyons, who did her best to entice the media
to show up to no avail, though not for lack of trying. She had a list and called the
local TV and radio stations while we were out in front of the restaurant. 
