Recent deaths of sealers off Cape Breton

The recent deaths of seal hunters off Cape Breton gave me a bit of a shock on the weekend. Since Brad is still at sea off Nova Scotia my heart almost stopped. I learned the details from the news on tv and more when I did some research on the net the other day. A fishing vessel was being towed by a coast guard ship after having some troubles. Then at about 1:14 am the fishing vessel capsized after running up on ice. Three persons sleeping below deck drowned and a fourth is still missing. The two that survived were above keeping watch. These were needless deaths as far as I can tell. So why were the six men allowed to remain on the vessel being towed in the first place? Hopefully the investigations into this matter will shed some light into this and hopefully such things may be prevented in future. Whether you agree with it or not, the seal hunt itself is another issue entirely.

Now I haven't heard from Brad since before Easter. I have since heard that the ice has been an issue this year. With all the snowstorms in central and eastern Canada and now the melting causing flooding, such as in Ontario, I am sure that the resulting melt water is affecting the current outflow into the Atlantic. This and the wind would cause issues with the sea ice. More on this later. - Volker