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Last week, while in Nunavut, Canada's Goveror General, Michaelle Jean, ate a slaughtered seal's raw heart as a gesture of solidarity toward the country's seal hunters. An EU spokeswoman called the scene "too bizarre to acknowledge." The Governor General, the representative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as Canada's head of state and a largely ceremonial post, personally gutted the seal and swallowed a slice of the organ following an EU vote earlier in May that imposed a ban on seal products on the grounds that the seal hunt is cruel. When asked whether she was sending a message to Europe, Jean replied, "Take from that what you will."

Jean had been at a community festival with hundreds of Inuit and used a traditional ulu blade to cut through carcass. After eating the meat she declared it tasty and that "it's like sushi."

EU governments are expected to sign the ban into law on June 25th. The rule will allow narrow exemptions so Inuit communities will be able to continue traditional hunts. But they will be barred from large-scale trading of the pelts and other seal goods in Europe.