Spring brings movement - update from Washington State - site of the US whale hunt

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

 

FROM WASHINGTON CITIZENS' COASTAL ALLIANCE

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No fooling: Have we mentioned that we think Brian Gorman is biased to the

pro-whaling point of view? Sigh. Read on...

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MAKAH WHALE HUNT FACES THREAT

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Source: www.indianz.com

March 30, 2001

 

Two animal rights groups, including one based in Australia, on Thursday

announced they have petitioned the federal government to put the Pacific

gray whale back on the endangered species list.

 

Claiming that a number of factors ranging from global warming to El Niño to

offshore oil and gas development are harming the once endangered species,

the Fund for Animals and Australians for Animals want the Department of

Commerce, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and Secretary of

Interior Gale Norton to re-list the animal under the Endangered Species Act.

Yet while the coalition cites the whale hunt of the Makah Nation as a

threat, they deny their focus is to stop the Washington tribe from

exercising its treaty rights.

 

" Certainly both groups have for years been actively involved in preventing

the Makah from whaling, " said D.J. Schubert, an Arizona consultant who

prepared the group's 44-page petition. " I think this extends beyond the

Makah. It's really the cumulative impact of all these different factors. "

 

But the tribe, who waited more than 70 years to resume their hunt, isn't

buying Schubert's defense. And neither is the federal government, charged

with upholding the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay, the only treaty which

specifically secures a tribe's right to whale.

 

" There is no doubt at my mind that this petition is not aimed at protecting

the gray whale population from some putative threat other than the Makah

hunt, " said Brian Gorman, an NMFS spokesperson. " My guess is they can't

mount a successful challenge against the tribe's treaty rights, so they are

raising the biological question. "

 

" In that, they will fail, " said Gorman, who noted the gray whale is already

protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

 

Driven to near extinction by commercial whaling, the gray whale was taken

off the endangered species list in 1994. The tribe and the federal

government then began working on an agreement to resume the hunt and the

tribe successfully took a whale in 1999.

 

But the tribe has faced considerable opposition from animal rights and

anti-treaty rights group who want to stop the hunt. And last summer, a court

challenge mounted in part by the two groups seeking the listing and former

Congressman Jack Metcalf (R-Wash.) forced the government to prepare a new

environmental assessment of the hunt.

 

The assessment, issued in January, estimated the gray whale population to be

26,000, a number the group says is based on " fuzzy math. " But Schubert

admitted his clients don't have its own estimates of the whale's population.

 

" We don't know what the population is, " said Schubert. " We simply believe

there is a great deal of question associatiod with their optimistic

estimates. "

 

Even so, Arnie Hunter, Vice-President of the Makah Whaling Commission, said

the hunt doesn't have a significant impact on the population. Under the

tribe's old agreement with the government, up to five whales per year could

be hunted.

 

" The gray whale numbers are too great, " said Hunter. " Even the five we get a

year wouldn't hurt their numbers any. "

 

" We do have a treaty, " he added. " That's the law. "

 

Gorman said the government has received several hundred comments on its

draft assessment and is now working on a final version. He anticipated it

would be available in several weeks.

 

In the meantime, he said NMFS would take a look at the group's petition and

decide if it has merit. Schubert said a lawsuit wasn't out of the question

if his clients aren't successful.

 

Although a potential listing resides primarily under the jurisdiction of the

Department of Commerce, an Interior spokesperson yesterday warned the

coalition might not have much success.

 

" The Secretary considers the gray whale an endangered species success

story, " said Stephanie Hanna. " Don't hold your breath waiting on a listing. "

 

Norton was a former solicitor in US Fish and Wildlife and worked to restore

a number of endangered animals.

*****

 

 

 

GRAY WHALE WATCHING

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By Bill Graves, The Oregonian

Sunday, March 25, 2001

 

DEPOE BAY -- The Mariner turns to port, her narrow bow crowded with 15

watchers, and churns toward a span of rolling, gray sea where Capt.

Craig Calkins hopes to spot a gray whale.

 

" He's around here somewhere, " the 31-year-old captain tells his guests

through a loudspeaker from his post on the flying bridge.

 

Suddenly, a white spout sprays above the slate sea, and a great black

mound rises and sinks. The black triangle of a fluke rolls by, followed

by another spout.

 

" Oooooo, " say children crowded at the bow.

 

They came to Depoe Bay on the Oregon Coast to see a whale Saturday

morning, and Calkins delivered. Helping people see whales has become

part of the livelihood for some charter fishermen such as Calkins and a

passion for volunteers stationed at 30 viewing sites along the coast.

 

Spring break marks one of their busiest weeks in the year as thousands

of whale watchers flock to the coast. This is also the week when

volunteers, trained through a program by the Oregon Parks and Recreation

Department called Whale Watching Spoken Here, count every whale they

see.

 

Gray whales on their annual spring migration north to the Bering Sea

started showing off the coast about two weeks ago. They will continue to

pass for the next four to six weeks.

 

The whales will feed in the north and head south in the winter, when

volunteers again assemble for a week to count them. This winter,

volunteers counted 1,556 whales and 19,314 whale watchers.

 

Ecological changes in the Bering Sea have undermined food sources for

gray whales, and hundreds have been dying of hunger in their northern

migration in recent years, said Mike Rivers, a state park ranger who

organizes volunteers for the whale counts.

 

" They've gone three months without eating, " he said. " Some are running

out of gas. At this point, it is touch-and-go whether they will make it

to the Bering Sea in time to get more food. "

 

But charter boats are seeing more whales than ever. Tradewinds Charters

in Depoe Bay, a company that owns 12 boats, including the Mariner, will

take more than 2,000 people in quest of whales this week, said owner

Richard Allyn.

 

The whale migrations last so long that they nearly overlap, Calkins

said. And with the growing number of whales that stay in the Depoe Bay

area through the summer, he said, he can find whales almost year-round.

 

While Calkins was taking whale watchers out to sea Saturday morning,

Carl and Millie Ehrman stood dutifully on the low bluff of Rocky Creek

State Scenic Viewpoint a mile south of Depoe Bay. They scanned the

horizon through binoculars held up to their rain-splattered glasses.

More than 150 volunteers will join them this week.

 

The Ehrmans have been volunteer whale watch hosts and counters since

they retired five years ago and moved from Salt Lake City to Lincoln

City. With them Saturday was Larry Ely of Monmouth, who also is retired

and has been counting whales for the past decade.

 

The three saw more whales -- eight -- than they did whale watchers

Saturday morning. And that was all right with them. The whales are what

keep them coming back, they said.

 

" Every new white spout I see is exciting, " Millie Ehrman said.

 

She recalled one time seeing an unusually large pod of whales passing on

a spring day, making it " look like popcorn out there. " Ely said he's

seen whales breach or leap out of the water.

 

But watchers should not expect to see the full body of a whale from the

coast. Whales do occasionally come close -- Carl Ehrman said he's seen a

mother and calf play in a bay near Cape Lookout -- but more often they

keep their distance. Counters find them by scanning the horizon.

 

" The spout is likely the only thing (watchers) will see, " Millie Ehrman

said.

 

People in charter boats Saturday morning, however, saw more. One boat

saw eight whales, including one that breached.

 

Watchers on the Mariner saw only one whale, but they viewed it

repeatedly for about 20 minutes. That satisfied Margaret and Don

Mattson, who were on vacation from Minnesota and had never before seen a

whale. Ten-year-old Ethan Gilbert of Colorado Springs, Colo., was

pleased too. " That was kind of freaky, " he said.

*****

 

 

 

TROUBLING DEVELOPMENT

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Japan optimistic after U.S. treasury secretary says Bush will pull back

pressure

 

JOJI SAKURAI DATELINE: TOKYO

 

Japanese officials responded with enthusiasm to U.S. Treasury Secretary

Paul O'Neill's assertion that the Bush administration will stop

pressuring Tokyo about its economy.

 

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's spokesman said on Thursday that a softer

touch could help solve a whole range of thorny issues even Washington's

opposition to Japan's whaling program.

 

''Basically, that's a comment that we should welcome,'' Kazuhiko

Koshikawa said. ''The United States, unlike in the past, would not

pressure Japan unilaterally on issues including whaling.'' Japan's Trade

Ministry had even strong words. A ministry official said on condition of

anonymity that O'Neill's remarks could lead to an escape from ''the

history of misfortune'' that marked ties under former U.S. President

Bill Clinton.

*****

 

 

 

ADDENDUM

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Many of you have asked for the address/phone of the World Whale Police. We

are happy to oblige!

 

World Whale Police

P.O. Box 814

Olympia Washington

98506

 

Telephone: (360) 561-7492

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