Calif. gray whale shot with machine gun

[Doc Intrepid]

The entire thing is pretty sad, all around.

The last time the Makah tribe killed a whale, my understanding is that very little of the creature was consumed. No one in the tribe wanted to eat an entire whale. No one had a freezer big enough. No one wanted to do all the butchering, etc.

You gotta wonder why. They can't even mount the thing and hang it over their fireplace.

It's just sad...


[For the record, it most likely was not a .50 cal machine gun that was used. It was more likely a .50 cal semi-automatic rifle...which can sound similar, but is legal to purchase and own as opposed to a .50 cal Ma Deuce, which is (generally speaking) not...]

 

[Kim]

The entire thing is pretty sad, all around.

Ain't that the truth.......

 

[D_B]

Thank you Doc & Kim ... Two good posts, with very good points

 

[D_B]

And ... I'll point out that your ideas of "culturally appropriate" are very wrong, and stereotypical .. native culture does not mean backward, or using only "primitive" tools ... read Doc's and Kim's post again without adding "your" cultures bias
If they have been granted a license to hunt wales, who are "you" to decide what's a "culturally appropriate" manor?

 

[Charlie99]

They have rights to kill whales.

Do any of you really think that the whale gives a **** if they use "culturally appropriate methods"?

Harpoons? What are you people thinking????

They have been given a special exemption to kill an endangered species, with the rationale for that exemption being that it is part of their traditional heritage that they want to maintain.

I'm not against killing whales that have decent sized populations, and am probably one of the very few on this board that have actually eaten both whale blubber and dolphin meat.

I am against taking a special exemption for cultural reasons, and then making a mockery of it.

The Tribe’s regulations will also include measures that will ensure that the hunt is conducted in the most humane manner practicable consistent with the Tribe’s goal of providing opportunities for a traditional ceremonial and subsistence hunt. To this end, all whales will be harpooned with a toggle-point harpoon with floats attached before being dispatched with a .50 caliber rifle shot to the central nervous system (brain and upper spinal cord). During the 1999 hunt these methods resulted in a time to death of approximately 8 minutes. The Tribe anticipates that the time to death will improve as its hunters gain additional experience.

http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mamm...poise/Gray-Whales/Request-for-MMPA-Waiver.cfm

And in several other documents it is stated that the hunt will be by traditional means and is for subsistance and to sustain the hunting tradition.

Yeah, the 50 caliber is in the application, but it's supposed to be used to finish off a whale after they have already harpooned it.

 

[cdreamer]

If they want to take whales because it's always been their culture to do so, then they should take the whales the way their culture has always done. By that I mean no machine guns, no
power boats, and no John Deere Trackors to pull it out when their done. If they choose to waste
the whale or any part of it, then they should not be able to hunt them at all.
Terri

 

[Teamcasa]

Flame suit on

Doc is most likely correct. I too doubt it was a machine gun (fully automatic, pull trigger, bullets start spewing), more likely several 50 cal rifles. Even a semi-automatic 50 cal (pull trigger once, one bullet shot, automatic reloading of next round) is tough one to handle unless experienced.

As for taking of the whales, I feel it’s un-necessary and I’m not happy with those who grant the licensing. That’s where the true fault lies. As for the (currently legal) actual killing, a properly placed harpoon and a kill shot with a 50 cal round or two would be as humane as it can be.

The tribe should ask themselves if the taking of whales is really necessary to keep the heritage alive.

Dave

 

[Matt S.]

OK....I'll probably get flamed to bits but who cares?

They have rights to kill whales.

Not this one. The tribe has limited rights and can only hunt whales at certain times. It's all negotiated between the gov't and the tribe.

According to the local radio news this morning, these guys all got arrested.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003877774_webwhale10m.html

Sunday, even as tribal council members strongly denounced the hunt, Johnson said he had no regrets. "If anything, I wish I'd done it years earlier," he said.

Even the tribe's leaders are denouncing the hunt.

I have no problem with most hunting, but an endagered species? That ain't right, no matter what your great-to-the-eighth grand-daddy used to do.

 

[DavidPT40]

Theres only 27,000 gray whales in existance. They are one of the oldest living mammal species. I would actually prefer it if indians didn't shoot them with machine guns (or kill them at all).

Cultural heritage is good and all. But I don't know if it should be applied to killing rare animals. After all, my cultural heritage (being white- european american) includes killing just about anything that moved.

 

[wkyongae@aol.com]

I and my family was there during the whole event watching everything that went on. 18 shots where fired into the whale before the Coast Guard got there. 3 more with the Coast Guard in site. Total 21 shots. This whole thing started at about or before 9am and the Coast Guard got there after 10:30am or so. I stood next to the lady that shot the video that was aired on TV. My son saw the blood spurting out of the whale. Nothing about this killing looked anything like the Indians knew what they where doing. Just think about the danger the Indians put the fishermen in that where out there fishing for salmon. And I have to tell you that there was a whale close to shore that was very upset so you have to wonder. I'm a firm believer if you shoot it you eat it in the hunting world. So if they find that whale floating around or beached somewhere and the Indians did say it was in there blood. So make them eat it so nothing will go to waste. What a waste of a 40 ft whale. Was at last count around 27000 now 26999.