Dear Friends,

I'm Sunny's friend Rebecca, and I'm afraid I have some bad news. For weeks I've been out on the ice at the commercial seal hunt, bearing witness to some of the worst forms of cruelty I've ever seen. With so many seal pups killed this year, we all knew that Sunny would likely become a casualty of this cruel industry. Today, I fear that Sunny has become one of the hundreds of thousands of innocent baby seals who have been brutally killed for their fur. It is with deep sadness and regret that I pass on this news to you, his loving friends.

I know many of you have been following his adventures as well as checking in with The Humane Society of the United States' MySpace page and my online journal. I don't have to tell you how horrifying it's been; you've seen the heartbreaking videos and photos. You've seen how the seals' habitat is deteriorating. You've seen how the government neglects to enforce the regulations. You've seen how these hunters brutally club and skin these animals. And worst of all, you've seen how these defenseless baby seals like Sunny put up a strong fight and did whatever they could to save their own lives.

This is the harsh reality of the hunt.

And now comes the hardest part - our ongoing campaign to stop this from happening again. We all need to do more. We must increase the number of people all over the world who are pressuring the Canadian government to stop this slaughter. We must educate our friends and family by spreading the word and encouraging them to take action. Many people don't have the facts, or don't know that the hunt happens at all.

We have the truth and compassion on our side, and we are not alone. And most importantly, we have you. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is never easy to bear witness to slaughter, but in doing so, you have helped us spread the word and the truth. It is my hope that this will be the last year that these poor seals like Sunny will have to fight for their lives, and the last time we have to witness the unspeakable cruelty of the hunt. I truly believe that with our footage and outstanding support from people like you, we can do it.

Please feel free to leave your notes of sympathy for Sunny but also, use this page to educate others on the importance of taking action to save our seals. They need you now more than ever.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Aldworth
Director of Canadian Wildlife Issues
Humane Society International - Canada

I'm still holding on guys but I've seen such horrible things out here. It's worse than anything you can imagine and almost too horrible to talk about but I want you to know what they are doing to us. I keep hoping it's just a terrible nightmare that I'm going to wake up from any second. How can this all be real?

Yesterday, I was lying on some ice and keeping my eyes on the boats in the distance. I was also looking at my coat and noticing that I've lost a lot more of my white fur. I still have tufts of the white in places. (Take a look at my new profile pic!) I look a bit silly and I was worried that the hunters would notice me more easily. But somehow I have been very lucky and the hunters haven't spotted me yet.

I kept watching the boats and I saw a mass of red stuff float toward me on another ice chunk. At first I didn't know what it was but, as it got closer, I realized that it was about the same size as me. I saw two huge bloody eyes and flippers, and I knew it was the carcass of a baby seal. I had seen the hunters throwing them over the sides of their boats in the distance. There was blood everywhere. I felt so sick and I started to shake and cry. I know that that's what they will do to me if they catch me. They will cut my skin off then throw me back in to the water like garbage. I still don't understand why they want my skin. I need it but they don't! They have their own skin already! I still feel sick and I can't get the picture of that bloody carcass and the bloody water out of my head.

After the boats disappeared into the distance, I heard a momma seal crying out. She was trying to find her baby but he wasn't answering. She had gone to hide when the boats came. From all the blood and carcasses she must have known what had happened but was still hoping there was some chance her baby had escaped, like I had. I think he didn't, cause she kept looking through the bodies and wailing for hours. I've never heard such a sad noise. My mom found me and we cried together all night.

It's been my scariest day yet. I'm still drifting around out here, hopping from ice chunk to ice chunk and doing my best to hide. My mom says I've floated into the Ocean into a place called the Front. That means I'm going to have to keep hiding from sealers cause a new seal hunt just started here today. There are a lot more sealers coming out and looking for me and my friends.

This morning I saw in the distance a Coast Guard boat that belongs to the government clearing ice out of the way. Then the hunters' boats following it. The Coast Guard boat was helping the seal hunters to find us. I wish the government guys who are in charge of the Ocean would use their boats to protect me instead of to help the sealers.

I've been hiding pretty well but not quite well enough. I swam away from several boats today but just an hour ago, while I was resting on a piece of ice, I must have fallen asleep. I woke up suddenly to this scary loud noise and bits of ice and water exploding next to me. Then there was another loud noise and a splash on the other side of me. I looked up and saw a man on a boat holding a long black thing and looking straight at me. I knew that it must be a gun, those scary things my mom told me about that hunters use to kill seals from far away. I froze for a couple more seconds and couldn't move, but just as the next big noise came I dove into the water and swam away. When i came up I was right behind a little ice chunk and I think they couldn't see me anymore cause the boat kept going. It left a trail of red water behind it. My heart was pounding for ages. It was so scary. I will really have to be more careful. I think I will be too scared to go to sleep ever again!

Sorry I haven't had a chance to write to my friends. I had a big weekend. I was busy learning to swim! My mom showed me everything and now I'm pretty ok at it. I'm still really fat so I float up to the surface easily and it's hard for me to stay under water, but at least I'm a bit better at escaping from hunters. When I see a hunting boat coming I start swimming the other way until I find a new hiding spot.


So far I have swum away from at least four boats and I'm very proud of myself. But I can't go as fast as the boats can so I'm still scared. I made friends with another baby seal yesterday and we had some races to practice going fast. I won two out of three races!


I'm going to go practice swimming some more now. Talk to you soon!

have been horrible. i've had to watch my back at every turn. i couldn't even take a few minutes to write to my friends.

you won't believe this. i saw a seal get hit on the head today. it looked like it hurt so bad. his scream keeps playing over and over in my head. the people dragged him onto a big boat and left an ice patch of blood behind. i cried and cried, and tried to be quiet so they wouldn't hear me. but it was so hard. i've never seen anything like this. i want my parents to take me away and go home so we can be safe and i can stop crying and having nightmares and being scared of getting hurt. i don't want to go on that boat!!!

i still don't understand why this happens. i don't understand why someone would want to wear my skin. if they knew how it happened, would they still want to? i would never want to wear a human's skin. do they really think this is all worth it? is my life really worth wearing my fur? don't they know i need my fur more than they do? why can't they just leave me alone?!? someone please help me understand!!

i'm sorry if i'm rambling, but i'm so upset. it's starting to become night time, so i'm going to find a dark, cool spot to hide. hopefully the boats will go away and they won't hear my sobbing.  

I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm still okay today. I hate to think that some of my friends might have been killed already but at least the hunters haven't found me. I haven't seen any hunting boats or hunters yet. Since I am in the Northern part of the Gulf and the hunters started down in the South, I guess they might not show up here until tomorrow morning. I'm still hoping that they will miss me completely. I think it's possible since I'm all by myself and so small. Mum and Dad are still hanging out nearby but not too close since they don't want to draw attention to me.

I will talk to you again tomorrow I hope! I'm thinking happy thoughts until then!

i just wanted to write a quick note to you guys to say thank you for the wonderful response I got to my plea for your stories and what you're doing to help me.

i have some amazing new friends.

i love you all and will keep you posted as much as i can with what's happening. know that i'm okay.

xoxo,
sunny

ps - do you guys like my new song?

Today's the day the scary seal hunt starts. I have never been so scared as today. I don't know what's going to happen. I have a good hiding spot next to a little ice chunk and mum and dad are keeping watch nearby.

I know that I have a lot of friends who have been doing everything they can to stop the scary hunt. Rebecca told me that hundreds of my friends got together last night to talk on the phone about how to help me. And hundreds of you have left me encouraging comments and messages. I feel a lot better knowing that so many of you are thinking about me and hoping for me to be safe. Thank you so much for loving me and the other seals. If you were here I would give you a hug!

i've been crying alot because i'm scared. but i know i have to be strong and keep going. i know you guys are counting on me to stand tall and keep fighting.

when i talked to rebecca a little while ago, she passed along this video. she said it was especially for our myspace friends (thats mine and my pals at the humane society!) She talks about how important it is for you guys to keep spreading the word to your friends. And the easiest way to do that is with your own MySpace page! take a look...



if you want the code for this video to put it on your page, check out the humane society's blog.

i'm gonna sign off for a bit since my dad wants to talk to me (probably about monday ), but i'll be back soon.

i talked to rebecca today and she told me that the hunt is going to start on monday. only two days away... that's not a very long time. i am so scared. i don't know what happens but i know it can't be good. i hope i can stay safe and the won't find me. but what if they do? what happens?