Hunting seals is risky business and is not for the faint of heart. Lots of landsmen seal hunters have drifted away to their doom on the ice they were hunting on when the wind changed, blowing them from the land and never to be heard from again. Their families, widows and children, wept helplessly on shore. The history of Newfoundland is peppered with stories of sealers lives lost while trying to provide for their families.