Pro-seal Aussie doc held
(mar. 13, 2008)
australian herald sun

(ED NOTE: Canadian violence and censorship has now spread to Australian media)

An Australian doctor and her partner are among 17 people detained by the Canadian Coast Guard while gathering information on the country's annual seal hunt.

Dr Merryn Redenbach, 32, and Sky Christensen are crew on a ship owned by US-based conservation group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Ms Redenbach's mother Elva said.

Paul Watson, head of the society, said officers from two Coast Guard vessels boarded the Farley Mowat yesterday morning in the waters of the Cabot Strait.

Elva Redenbach last spoke to her daughter on Friday, and has not been able to contact her since.

Her daughter, the ship's doctor, and partner joined the ship last month in Bermuda, before it set off for the Gulf of St Lawrence to observe the annual hunt.

"I am really concerned. I last heard from them on Friday when all was well," Elva Redenbach said.

Canada's Fisheries Minister, Loyola Hearn, said yesterday his Government was acting in the best interests of the sealers during the hunt.

A spokeswoman from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said three Australians were believed to be on board.

"We're seeking to confirm their safety and welfare," she said. The ship is now en route to Nova Scotia.