Ex-Beatle, wife in Maritimes before annual seal hunt
Rock legend Paul McCartney and his wife Heather are expected in the Maritimes later this week to observe harp seal pups before the start of the annual hunt.
- FROM CBC ARCHIVES: Pelts, Pups and Protest: The Atlantic Seal Hunt
"Heather and Paul's visit to the seal pups will shine a global media spotlight on this cruel and needless slaughter," Rebecca Aldworth of the Humane Society of the United States said in a release.
The former Beatle and his wife, known for their animal-rights activism, are expected in Canada on Thursday and Friday.
Canadian officials haven't yet confirmed the date for this year's hunt, which is usually between mid-March and mid-April on the ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Last year, Paul McCartney wrote an open letter to then prime minister Paul Martin that asked him to ban the hunt.
"We wanted to put you on notice that if Canada moves forward with another hunt next year, we will do all we can to focus attention on this unjustified, outdated and truly horrific practice, including, potentially, visiting the seals and the ice," the musician wrote.
The McCartneys are the latest in a long list of celebrities, including Martin Sheen, Richard Dean Anderson, Mick Jagger and Pierce Brosnan, to publicly oppose the hunt.
Protests over the commercial hunt peaked during the 1970s when actress Brigitte Bardot hugged pups on the Maritime ice floes.
The United States banned the import of seal products in 1972 and the European Union implemented a partial ban in 1983. Canada banned the killing of harp pup seals â whitecoats â in 1987.
Ottawa estimates the harp-seal population is at 5.9 million, up from two million in the 1970s.