5 Miles of Seals: Newfoundland fisherman’s video goes viral, fires up more debate about pinnipeds

Jason Branton, a fisherman from Winterton, Newfoundland and Labrador,  was steering his fishing vessel home after a crab fishing trip last week , he witnessed something new, not in subject but in scale. Obvious to the fact that there is an abundance of seals around Newfoundland waters he had no idea it was this densely populated. Or overpopulated is probably how he feels now after the video he shot on his phone.

Branton’s longliner was about 60 miles out from Baccalieu Island, in Trinity Bay, on May 30 when he and his crew noticed countless seals surrounding the vessel near and far. Branton estimates the seal herd to be about five miles wide when they encountered the herd heading south.

To read more and see the video please visit Saltwire’s newspaper The Telegram’s article here

Thanks to Saltwire’s Barb Dean-Simmons for covering the story.