Hunters target mothers/residents

[Guest guest]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sunday / May 7, 2000 (8:42 a.m.)

 

 

 

 

MAKAH HUNTING AGAIN

SUNDAY; OBSERVERS SAY

TARGETS MAY BE 'ILLEGAL'

 

NEAH BAY, WA - Observers here monitoring the Makah whale hunt Sunday

morning said that it appears the targets of the hunters are either mothers

or " resident " whales - both on the protected list.

 

The U.S. Coast Guard has dispatched four vessels - and whale defenders

have matched that number here Sunday morning. But, according to Ocean

Defense International, the whales in the area being tracked by the Makah

are feeding and staying in the area, and not heading north are part of the

migration.

 

" The whales today are feeding, and not making any attempts to head north.

According to our experts, that probably means they are either mothers, with

their calves, or residents whales - and both are not to be hunted according

to National Marine Fisheries, " said Ocean Defense International flagship

captain Jonathan Paul.

 

Paul said he was very " concerned " the Makah will kill a mother or resident

because, unlike Saturday, the Makah have a fishing boat on the water -

which is used to drag a whale to the surface after it's been harpooned and

shot by hunters.

 

Paul said most of the whales have already migrated north, leaving mostly

mothers and calves. Whale defenders have also observed whales " actively

avoiding " the hunting boats when they observe them. " It's amazing. I saw

one whale, after surfacing and seeing the hunters, dive and go left to

avoid them, " said Paul.

 

Paul said his crew is also on the watch to see if Makah whalers violate

federal law, as they did Saturday when they failed to send a radio message

- as required by law - setting up the 500 yard exclusionary zone around the

hunt. That " zone " was used to arrest anti-whaling activists in the past.

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