Whale hunt update

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

 

FROM WASHINGTON CITIZEN'S COASTAL ALLIANCE

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SEKIU, WA: 10:45am PDT

 

No hunting today- although the seas are calm, the weather is cool, cloudy

and foggy with occasional showers... Activists remain on alert!

 

We also are eagerly awaiting the results of an investigation launched by

Citizens Against Government Waste. CAGW is investigating the staggering

amount of taxpayer money poured into this hunt by the Clinton/Gore

administration. (www.cagw.org)

 

Word has reached us that a decision in the Metcalf v. Daley appeal, heard by

the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in February, may be reached this month.

We will certainly let you know the moment the decision is announced.

 

For further information on the illegal Makah whale hunt, please visit

www.stopwhalekill.org

*****

 

 

 

JACK METCALF SPEAKS OUT AGAIN

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SAY NO TO COMMERCIAL WHALING

[Congressional Record: April 12, 2000 (House)]

 

" Mr. Speaker, 2 days ago a mighty 35-foot long gray whale washed up on the

beach in front of my home on Whidbey Island in Washington State. As a

vociferous opponent of killing whales or the expansion of whaling worldwide,

and as a lifelong advocate for the environmental health of Puget Sound, this

recent event has been the cause of some amount of discussion and publicity

in the region surrounding my district. Out of the 1,000 miles of coastline

in Washington State, it was certainly an interesting coincidence that the

body lodged right on the beach in front of my house.

 

The death of this gray whale should call our attention to those who would

like to reverse the will expressed in Congress and by an overwhelming

majority of the American people who oppose allowing the hunting of whales,

particularly for commercial purposes.

 

As I have been predicting from the well of this House and across America for

several years, the push for resumption of worldwide commercial whaling is on

in earnest. And it is not about heritage, it is all about money. We have

heard that a gray whale can be sold in Japan for $1 million.

 

Those who want to end the ban on commercial whaling have been using the

pretext of restoring whaling rights to indigenous people to expand the scope

of whaling worldwide. But if we allow people to use the excuse of historic

whale hunting for resumption of whale hunting worldwide, you have got to

remember many nations, most nations with coastlines, hunted whales. Japan

and Norway definitely would have, as

good as anybody, an historic whale hunting opportunity. Japan and Norway are

the most notorious now for going ahead and hunting whales.

 

Newsweek Magazine reported, April 17, information I have already given this

body that Japan has been quietly packing the International Whaling

Commission with small nations willing to do their bidding, willing to vote

for the resumption of commercial whaling.

 

Mr. Speaker, we are dangerously close to a renewal of the barbaric practice

of commercial whaling. To millions of Americans, including myself, this is

totally unacceptable. When the Clinton-Gore administration last year

financed the Makah tribal whale hunt and colluded with the pro-whaling

nations of the International Whaling Commission, our Nation's government

lost its moral authority to lead the fight against killing whales for

profit. This was truly a tragedy. Whales were hunted almost to extinction in

the late 1800s.

 

Mr. Speaker, we must not allow the clock to be turned back to past days of

barbarism. Republicans and Democrats in this body must stand with the

American people and stop this conspiracy against these magnificent

creatures. We must not return to commercial whaling. "

*****

 

 

 

BEACHED WHALE CAUSES SENSATION

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Wednesday, June 07, 2000

Peninsula Daily News (www.peninsuladailynews.com)

By Mark Morey

 

SEKIU -- Two-dozen spectators, including anti-whaling activists, gathered to

view the carcass of a gray whale found near the mouth of the Sekiu River on

Tuesday afternoon.

 

The young animal was about 30 feet long and appeared in good health, said

Bob Ness, owner of Chito Beach Resort of Clallam Bay. It showed no visible

evidence of injury or other wound, Ness said.

 

Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service in

Seattle, said the beaching was not unusual. " It's that time of year, " Gorman

said.

 

Ten gray whale deaths have been reported this spring in Puget Sound and

along the outer coast, far below the record 26 fatalities last year in the

region. Some of the animals, which haven't eaten much since November, seek

food outside their normal Pacific migration route and then die for unknown

reasons, Gorman said. A marine service biologist generally responds to each

location to conduct a necropsy, or at least take tissue samples and

measurements.

 

Ness, the resort owner, said up to 30 people gathered at the mouth of the

river, about five miles west of Sekiu, to observe the whale. They recorded

its presence about 50 yards from shore with cameras and camcorders, and a

diver checked the carcass.

 

'Rolling with the waves'

According to initial reports in the late afternoon, the animal may have

still been alive then. However, " judging from what I saw out there, it was

probably just rolling with the waves, " Ness said.

 

Activists who oppose the hunting of gray whales by the Makah tribe at Neah

Bay also gathered at the scene.

Chuck Owens, the Joyce resident who helped found the Peninsula Citizens for

the Protection of Whales, traveled to Sekiu to see if he could help the

animal if it was still alive.

 

Members of the group calling itself World Whale Police, staying at Sekiu to

oppose the Makah hunts, also filmed the animal, Ness said.

*****

 

 

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