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Seal You Later
I'm not one to speak out against items of free speech. I think it is an essential and a God-given right to be able to speak your mind and stand for your values. However, when your actions begin to affect the lives of others and purposefully bent on demeaning and destroying their reputation then it becomes completely wrong and in my mind illegal verbal abuse especially when the individual's actions are completely legal and innocent. The LJ FOS are not good natured, rational people - they're clearly eco thugs bent on enforcing self-proposed laws based on their own ideals. As a avid diver, I enjoy the company of seals during my dives. They are playful animals that are unphased by my presence. However, according to the FOS, my simple presence annoys the seals and detrimental to their health and well-being. Not that I am a seal doctor or psychologist, but I don't feel that my being there has any affect at all besides the simple sight of humans walking past and some awkward warm-blooded animal in the water to gaze at. All said, I don't go out of my way to attract the attention of any seals - I walk past quietly as far as possible from where they are basking on the beach and swim around them as much as possible when in the water. If the beach is too crowded by seals to enter, which has happened, I'll move to another nearby beach as long as conditions allow me to. Yet, when trying to enter the water at the Children's Pool, which offers a great and protected dive entry point because of the sea wall that was constructed for this exact purpose, my fellow divers and I have been yelled at and verbally abused over bull-horns, called a seal killers, filmed, blinded by flashlights directly to the eye, and blocked from entering the beach - just to name a few of my experiences with the "Friends" of the Seals. Please tell me that yelling over a bull horn isn't bothering the seals or chasing me down on to the beach chastise me isn't annoying the seals. Clearly these a just a bunch of irrational fanatics, who make huge profits off the easily convinced public who throw money at them with the belief that it will actually go to benefiting the seals. I applaud people like John Leek who stand up for what is right and completely legal when faced by an irrational group of eco-thugs, who use the seals a face for their own selfish motivations.— February 25, 2010 1:50 p.m.