After today's hunt; letters

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===== A message from the 'makahwhaling' discussion list =====

 

FROM WASHINGTON CITIZEN'S COASTAL ALLIANCE

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WHALES WIN THE DAY! (PART TWO)

 

The Makah whaling crew has packed it in early for the second day in a row.

This time they gave up just after 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time, coming

nowhere near as close to a whale as yesterday. News reports indicate that a

second Makah whaling crew may step in to replace this crew.

 

Although a very nice day, the winds have definitely picked up. We hope for a

very windy May!

*****

 

 

 

CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON SPEAKS OUT

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Seattle Post-Intelligencer,

Letter to the Editor (May 6, 2000)

Protesters uphold the law in opposing Makah whale hunt

 

I am responding to your editorial of April 21 concerning the Makah whale

hunt. Because I am presently working on an anti-poaching campaign in Brazil,

I am not at Neah Bay this spring but I am grateful that there are such

dedicated activists as Jonathan Paul and Erin Abbot there to defend the

whales from the .50 caliber guns of the Makah.

 

Your editorial stated that the protesters are in violation of international

law for opposing this hunt. What law are they violating? There is no

international law to my knowledge that prohibits interference with whaling.

 

The International Whaling Commission has specifically not approved the Makah

hunt. It is the Makah hunt that is in violation of international law and the

protesters are in fact opposing an illegal whale hunt.

 

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is addressing our efforts to having

the United States charged with violating IWC regulations when the IWC meets

in Australia in July. Member nations of the IWC will be calling for a vote

on charging the United States.

 

July of this year will mark the first time the IWC will have the opportunity

to vote on the infraction committed by the Makah and the United States on

May 19, 1999.

 

You can continue to report the hunt as legal but will you continue to do so

when the United States is officially condemned for sponsoring this illegal

slaughter?

 

My guess, based on your bias, is that you will ignore any IWC rulings and

you will continue to report what is politically correct just as you have

ignored the fact that there is not a single document in existence that

supports your continued allegation that the Makah hunt has been approved of

by the IWC.

 

Captain Paul Watson

Founder and President

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Friday Harbor, WA

*****

 

 

TO: The Ladies and Gentleman

at NWCN.COM (Ch. 5/King TV, Seattle, WA.)

 

FROM: Capt. Bill Simpson

USCG Merchant Marine Officer

Portland, OR.

 

May 6, 2000

 

We keep hearing that it is the Makah's tribal traditional right to hunt

whales. I believe that as the human race evolves our challenge and

responsibility is to learn and to grow in our wisdom and vision thus

ensuring better stewardship of the miracle planet in which we have been

entrusted.

 

Does tradition in of itself make something correct or right? I think not.

 

Lets examine a couple of examples: Traditionally, and up to the 1950's in

New Guinea the primitive aboriginal Indians there engaged in headhunting and

cannibalism. Should we now in modern days allow them to continue in that

tradition simply because it was a tribal tradition? Maybe we can let them

kill and eat only a few humans? Maybe we could let the tourist bureau

decide which humans? {:-)

 

Slavery was involved in the traditional way of life in the Southern United

States not too long ago, should we re-embrace that tradition? How about

allowing certain cotton farmers only a few slaves for tradition's sake? {:-)

 

Unlike the still primitive Indians in New Guinea, the Makah Indians have

accepted and embraced many modern conveniences and knowledge. They have

powerboats, computers, televisions, cars and trucks, Rolex watches and the

insights of modern man. Isn't it disingenuous for them to now claim stake in

a primitive tradition that was founded in the absence of modern thinking in

regard to whales and other marine mammals?

 

And what of these highly intelligent beings, the whales, porpoises and

dolphins that we are allowing to be hunted and killed? Now that we're

supposedly smart enough to know the difference between a fish and a marine

mammal, isn't time we act accordingly and with the level of respect that

these beings truly deserve?

 

Who better to evaluate the kind and intelligent nature of these beings than

a fellow mariner and human? I have made a living on the ocean for a major

part of my life and have been in close contact with whales, dolphins and

porpoises

and I can state that, they are friendly, intelligent and understanding, even

of humans. I have seen the excitement and tears experienced by my fellow man

after an encounter with whales and porpoises. We have all heard the stories

(all true) of humans being in the water with sharks circling and then

porpoises or dolphins, sensing their distress come to the aid of the human

swimmer until help arrives, keeping the sharks at bay and the swimmer

afloat.

 

Today I was disheartened when I heard a lady reporter on the channel 5 TV

news in Seattle make a statement comparing whaling to fishing. This is

unfortunate and clearly demonstrates the ignorance that still exists even

today among many humans in regard to a mammal that has a brain larger than

that of any human. Whales and porpoises have social behaviors, they play,

they love, they have family structure and the ability to communicate

underwater for hundreds of miles in a manner so effective that the U.S. Navy

is studying them at Santa Barbara Island in California. We, on the other

hand still require equipment to communicate the relatively short distances

that we are capable of currently (the U.S. Navy), where whales need no

equipment. Who is the more intelligent? Who can prove that their peaceful

undersea reality isn't more valid than our techno-modern society with all of

its problems?

 

Through our ignorant use of fluorocarbons we have already seriously depleted

the ozone layer of our planet, thus eliminating it's ability to filter out

harmful levels of ultraviolet light. This has subsequently caused a large

percentage of the amphibians worldwide to die off due to their sensitivity

to the damaging effects of the increased levels of ultraviolet light. Now we

have an explosion of disease carrying mosquitoes and their larva in our

fresh

water lakes and ponds worldwide. Without the amphibians that normally prey

upon these and other insects, we are now forced to employ chemical means to

control this and other similar problems and these chemical remedies will no

doubt have their impacts as well, placing our future at further risk. So

honestly, how smart are we, really?

 

If we examine our actions and ourselves we certainly are far, far from

perfect. We still engage in wars and we intentionally cause harm to

non-combatants and consider it as " acceptable collateral casualties " . We

knowingly engage in deceptive practices of all types. We knowingly damage

our home, the planet earth for the sake of expedient monetary gains. Who are

we to decide the fate of any other intelligent beings such as the marine

mammals?

 

To my knowledge, the IWC has not to this day sanctioned through any

resolution the legal hunting of any marine mammals.

 

We need to ask ourselves, why are we hurting these peaceful beings (the

whales) and their families? What about their rights and long-standing

tradition of migration with their families into the southern oceans? After

all, their migration tradition does pre-date that of any human culture.

 

We are responsible for our actions in this matter. Let's start acting like

the intelligent beings we claim to be. If we must error, then let's at least

error on side of caution. Please, let's stop killing these peaceful

intelligent friends that have done nothing to harm us. There are plenty of

other non-damaging cultural traditions that the Indians can engage in

without harming any other highly intelligent beings. If we don't change our

ways soon

and start respecting the life around us we are all surely doomed. I pray

it's not too late for our future generations and us.

 

Respectfully Yours, Capt. Bill Simpson

*****

 

 

 

 

 

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