by Mark Berman
International Marine Mammal Project
Despite the recent victory in Baja California, threats to the gray whale continue. The government of Mexico and Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation have abandoned plans to build a massive salt plant (see also "Anatomy of a Victory"). In northwest Washington State, far from the warm-water lagoons of Baja California, Native American hunters from the Makah tribe have again set out to kill gray whales.
For 70 years, the Makah peacefully coexisted with gray whales, which routinely pass through tribal waters on the long migration from Baja's nursery lagoons to feeding grounds in Alaska. Last year that all changed. In May 1999, Makah hunters killed a two-year-old juvenile gray whale, an event televised internationally. As the young female moved toward the Makah canoe (possibly seeking friendly human contact, as they are known to do in Baja California's lagoons), she suddenly found a harpoon in her back. She was finished-off with a 50-caliber rifle.
The Makah tribe had sought permission from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the Clinton Administration to resume "traditional" aboriginal whaling. The IWC's exemption from the commercial whaling ban, however, is only for aboriginbal whaling that can demonstrate a nutritional and cultural need for eating whale meat. The Makah have not shown this need.
Nonetheless, in 1999, the US granted the Makah permission to kill five whales annually for the next five years. (Harpooned whales that manage to escape are not counted, despite the likelihood that they will later die from infection or stress.) Permitting the resumption of Makah whaling is making it more difficult to oppose large-scale whaling by Japan and Norway, which now claim that their "right" to kill whales is rooted in a "cultural need."
This contemporary version of a Makah hunt is far from traditional. A powerboat tows the ceremonial canoe to the area where the whales migrate. Small planes guide the tribesmen to the whales. Although a ceremonial harpoon is used for the first strike, the actual killing is done with a high-powered rifle capable of knocking out an artillery tank.
This spring, several Makah families attempted to kill gray whales in Neah Bay. Anti-whaling activists who tried to block the whalers were denied access to a US Coast Guard-enforced "exclusionary zone" surrounding the hunt. One of the protest boats was rammed by a Coast Guard vessel, injuring at least two activists.
On April 17, a Coast Guard ship rammed Erin Abbott, a young anti-whaling activist piloting a jet ski. Abbott suffered injuries severe enough to put her in the hospital for a week and now faces jail time and a $250,000 fine. Erin did manage to prevent the killing of a whale, however, when the noise and movement of her craft caused the whale to dive out of danger.
Gray whales face other threats, as well. Last year, DNA analysis revealed that gray whale meat was being openly sold in Japanese markets in Taiji and Nachikatsura. Russia continues to kill gray whales to use as feed on fox farms. In addition, gray whales are washing ashore along the California coast in increasing numbers. The unexplained die-off could be linked to ocean pollution or disruptions of the marine food chain caused by climate change.
Mark Berman is Associate Director of IMMP, 300 Broadway, Suite 28, San Francisco CA 94133, (415)788-3666, Fax: (415) 788-7324.
Makah Whaling Stopped!
A lawsuit against Makah whaling led by Rep. Jack Metcalf (R-WA) effectively halted Makah whaling on June 9. The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the Clinton Administration's Environmental Assessment (EIA) was slanted in favor of the hunt.
The White House now has to prepare an EIA that will review all the science involved regarding the health of the gray whale population.
Gray Whales Still at Risk