Brutal, and Possibly Illegal
People who have known me for a while know the devotion I have to the whale and dolphin "community" if you will. As a kid I "adopted" many animals...my first adoption ever was a Humpback Whale named Scylla. I contributed to the protection of these majestic creatures through my adoption contributions for many years, and have often considered doing it once again.
When I was in the 8th grade I won a youth leadership contest for the whole state of Texas by composing a letter to my state representative. The topic I chose was commercial whaling. One "youth" was chosen from each of the 50 states and 1 from the District of Columbia which met at a Youth Forum in Washington, D.C. At that Youth Forum we not only learned about our government and got to do cool things like go on the Senate floor (a rarity), but we also had the opportunity to meet with our state Senators and Representative about our chosen topic. I was told by the leaders of the organization that ran the contest that my letter's topic was "original" and they could tell that I was very passionate about the safety of these beautiful whales. Apparently my letter really stuck with them as they all knew who I was when I arrived.
To this day I try to stay aware of the current state of commercial whaling in the world and read over the IWC annual meeting notes (International Whaling Commission). I am not a big fan of cultural whaling although it is allowed for native tribes (largely based in Alaska). These tribes are required to use traditional techniques to kill and they do have a limit imposed on them by the IWC. Unfortunately some have chosen to take advantage of the laws and bend them by quite a lot (and makes me very sad) as the following article shows:
Gray whale shot with machine gun off Wash.
Members of Makah Tribe detained after animal hit by .50-caliber gun
NEAH BAY, Wash. - An injured California gray whale was swimming out to sea Saturday after being shot with a machine gun off the western tip of Washington state, officials said.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Kelly Parker said five people believed to be members of the Makah Tribe shot and harpooned the whale Saturday morning. The extent of the whale’s injuries were not immediately known.
Tribe members were being held by the Coast Guard but had not been charged, said Mark Oswell, a spokesman for the law enforcement arm of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
A preliminary report said the whale was shot with a .50-caliber machine gun, Oswell said.
Coast Guard officials created a 1,000-yard safety zone around the injured whale, which was shot about a mile east of Neah Bay in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The whale had begun heading to sea Saturday afternoon, Oswell said.
Although the tribe has subsistence fishing rights to kill whales, Oswell said preliminary information indicates the whale may have been shot illegally.
“We allow native hunts for cultural purposes. However, this does not appear to be of that nature so far,” he said.
A call to tribal officials was not immediately returned on Saturday.
The Makah Tribe has more than 1,000 members and is based in Neah Bay.
If you give an inch "they" will take a mile. This is why I have always felt that whaling of any kind should be banned in total.
When I was in the 8th grade I won a youth leadership contest for the whole state of Texas by composing a letter to my state representative. The topic I chose was commercial whaling. One "youth" was chosen from each of the 50 states and 1 from the District of Columbia which met at a Youth Forum in Washington, D.C. At that Youth Forum we not only learned about our government and got to do cool things like go on the Senate floor (a rarity), but we also had the opportunity to meet with our state Senators and Representative about our chosen topic. I was told by the leaders of the organization that ran the contest that my letter's topic was "original" and they could tell that I was very passionate about the safety of these beautiful whales. Apparently my letter really stuck with them as they all knew who I was when I arrived.
To this day I try to stay aware of the current state of commercial whaling in the world and read over the IWC annual meeting notes (International Whaling Commission). I am not a big fan of cultural whaling although it is allowed for native tribes (largely based in Alaska). These tribes are required to use traditional techniques to kill and they do have a limit imposed on them by the IWC. Unfortunately some have chosen to take advantage of the laws and bend them by quite a lot (and makes me very sad) as the following article shows:
Gray whale shot with machine gun off Wash.
Members of Makah Tribe detained after animal hit by .50-caliber gun
NEAH BAY, Wash. - An injured California gray whale was swimming out to sea Saturday after being shot with a machine gun off the western tip of Washington state, officials said.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Kelly Parker said five people believed to be members of the Makah Tribe shot and harpooned the whale Saturday morning. The extent of the whale’s injuries were not immediately known.
Tribe members were being held by the Coast Guard but had not been charged, said Mark Oswell, a spokesman for the law enforcement arm of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
A preliminary report said the whale was shot with a .50-caliber machine gun, Oswell said.
Coast Guard officials created a 1,000-yard safety zone around the injured whale, which was shot about a mile east of Neah Bay in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The whale had begun heading to sea Saturday afternoon, Oswell said.
Although the tribe has subsistence fishing rights to kill whales, Oswell said preliminary information indicates the whale may have been shot illegally.
“We allow native hunts for cultural purposes. However, this does not appear to be of that nature so far,” he said.
A call to tribal officials was not immediately returned on Saturday.
The Makah Tribe has more than 1,000 members and is based in Neah Bay.
If you give an inch "they" will take a mile. This is why I have always felt that whaling of any kind should be banned in total.