Seventeen crew members of the R/V Farley Mowat drove from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to join local conservation and animal rights activists in the International Day of Protest against the cruel and barbaric slaughter of seals on Canada's east coast.

The protest drew some fifty protesters who stood outside the constituency offices of Geoff Regan, the Canadian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

Regan's staff closed the office for the day because of the protest.

Canadian and Nova Scotia media attended. Despite the fact that there were 50 people at the protest, a reporter from Global TV, who only saw what he wanted to see, asked why we could only turn out a dozen people for a protest in Halifax.

It was a good turn-out considering that it was a bitterly cold day and the Minister's offices are a forty-minute drive from downtown Halifax.

The Halifax activists were delighted with the turn-out and proud to be a part of the International Day of Protest.

The government of Canada received a clear message that this is a growing international movement in opposition to the annual seal slaughter.