Longtime animal rights activists Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills arrived in Prince Edward Island on Wednesday to lend their star power to the campaign to end Canada's seal hunt.

The former Beatles musician hopes to take his wife, a contingent of international media, and animal-rights activists to a barren stretch of ice in the Gulf on Thursday to catch a glimpse of newborn seal pups.

McCartney wants to "highlight the work of two animal protection groups to stop the Canadian seal hunt," according to the Humane Society of the United States.

However, he may not get too close to the pups as the ice this year is unusually thin and may not be strong enough to hold the entourage's five helicopters.

"I'd be a bit leery about landing a heavy machine like that loaded with people on ice that should be a bit thicker in terms of safety," Frank Ring, spokesman for the federal Fisheries Department told The Canadian Press Wednesday.

McCartney will also have to avoid getting too close to the animals because federal regulations prohibit people from disturbing marine mammals "unless authorized to do so under a valid licence."

Organizers of the trip were prevented from flying over the area Wednesday because of bad weather.

Meanwhile, a Canadian seal organization official is blasting Paul McCartney's planned seal cull protest, calling the act a publicity stunt.

"These guys like McCartney and the other celebrities, Pamela Anderson and so on, they don't know anything about this. Basically what bothers me is they're only using sealing as a vehicle," Jim Winter, co-founder of the Canadian Sealers Association, told CTV Newsnet Wednesday from St. John's, Newfoundland.

"It's got nothing to do with sealing. It's a tactic, divide and conquer, and they're very adept at it and these (animals rights) groups are very adept at using celebrities … to attract media. Without media, they've got nothing."

Winter accused McCartney of forcefully imposing his values "on the lives of many, many, many people, whether in Canada's north, in Quebec in the Magdalene Islands, in Prince Edward Island, in Newfoundland, it doesn't really matter," he said.

Winter said McCartney should impose his view "rationally."

"Don't use the kind of language that PETA uses against me. Don't call me a murderer, don't call me a barbarian, don't call me a subhuman," he said.

"I don't tell you how to live your life so please don't tell me how to live mine."

McCartney, who has been engaged in animal-rights causes for decades, recently wrote a letter to then-prime minister Paul Martin, calling the hunt cruel and asking it be banned.

Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn says he hopes the legendary musician will take an objective look at what is "the most regulated, best supervised hunt in the world."

Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams added his voice to the debate, saying he's annoyed by McCartney's visit, adding he would like to meet the rock star to correct misinformation.

"I am assuming McCartney has never ... taken the time to be educated about the positive facts surrounding our annual seal harvest," Williams said in a statement Wednesday.

"I find it offensive and insulting that an individual with such international influence would come to our province and pass judgment on individuals who are participating in an industry that sustains their lives."

The hunt generally runs from mid-March through to mid-April, but the timing of this year's hunt is still uncertain.

Harp and hood seals generally give birth to their pups on ice floes, but the unusually thin ice could leave many of the young facing a fight for life.

Celebrities have long taken part in protesting against Canada's seal hunt, with the anti-sealing movement reaching its peak in 1977 when Brigitte Bardot cuddled up to baby seals on the ice floes.

In 2005, TV's MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson, added his voice to the movement.

The Canadian government has endorsed the hunt as a cultural right for many Maritimers -- announcing a management plan in 2003 with a quota of 975,000 seals over three years.

This outraged conservation groups and animal rights activists resumed their protests on the ice floes.

In 2004, the federal government estimated there were 5.9 million harp seals on the East Coast, up from two million in the early 1970s. Ottawa estimated the value of the hunt was around $16 million.