In the quest to sell "the wild" , the Canadian National Park of Auyuittuq has hit rock bottom. The Killing, Skinning and Eating of raw seal is being marketed as a tourist attraction for "sensitive tourists eager to experience something out of the ordinary."

The following is extremely disgusting at multiple levels... ... it should serve as a warning for what lays ahead in the boom world of industrial tourism.

Scott

----Condensed quoted article follows ----

April 24, 2000
Canada Arctic Lures Well-Off Adventurous Tourists
By David Ljunggren

AUYUITTUQ NATIONAL PARK, Nunavut (Reuters) -

The enormous new Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavut is selling itself as a niche market for prosperous, sensitive tourists eager to experience something out of the ordinary.

The options it presents range from hiking through remote, beautiful national parks to riding a dog-sled, watching -- or hunting -- animals such as polar bears or cruising through chilly seas staring at icebergs.

Then there is seal-skinning, of which more later.

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Something else on the menu for the intrepid tourist with a steel stomach is meat carved from a fresh seal. This is freely available at the skinning contests held every April during Toonik Tyme, a traditional festival in the capital Iqaluit.

On one dark snowy April afternoon some 200 townspeople and visitors watched as Inuit hunters stood over the bleeding corpses of seven freshly killed seals. A ptarmigan and an Arctic hare also lay on the ground.

"If anyone wants to join in, come to us for a knife," an organizer told the crowd. There were no takers.

Each hunter started by slitting up the underside of the seal to reveal a thick layer of grayish blubber. Cutting with incredible speed, he worked his way around the flippers and hauled the skin over the seal's head.

"There's your fur coat," said one sardonic visitor, who like the rest of the crowd was soon applauding the victor.

A few cries of disgust pierced the air when the hunters began to butcher the seals as steam billowed out of the still-warm bodies and blood gushed over the snow. The cloying smell of warm seal flesh filled the air and soon the hunters were slicing up seal livers.

"You have to get some of this into your stomach. Fresh seal meat really warms you up," said one Inuit hunter with dripping red hands and blood trickling down his chin.

Then someone cut out the eyes from a seal, provoking fresh squeals from bystanders and a flurry of flash photographs.

"Would anyone like to skin the hare or the ptarmigan?" the organized asked. "They're still available."

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