03/28/2008

Canada Places Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat Under Surveillance

This morning the Farley Mowat reported at 1030 Hours (AST), a black-and-yellow aircraft from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, radio call sign C-GGAO, circled the M/Y Farley Mowat. It made several passes. They attempted to hail the ship several times.

After a barrage of radio hails, they instructed the Farley Mowat to switch to Channel 10 on the Marine VHF and read, per verbatim, the decree of the Minister of Transport warning Sea Shepherd not to enter Canadian waters. They then took off north in the direction of Halifax.

Sea Shepherd captain Alex Cornelissen attempted to respond to the Coast Guard aircraft but the Coast Guard did not acknowledge the call.

The Farley Mowat has right of free passage inside the Canadian two hundred mile limit but will respect the Canadian government's order to stay outside of Canadian territorial waters as defined by the 12 mile territorial limit. Most of the seals are slaughtered outside the 12 mile limit.

Heavy ice is preventing most of the sealing vessels from reaching the seals. The Farley Mowat was approximately 12 hours from the ice as of 1000 Hours.