It's difficult to estimate how any species could come out on top with this cornucopia of threats and high mortalities.  No effort has been made to identify resident whales from migratory whales;  the idea of killing a whale who has made its home along the coastline of Neah Bay is difficult to accept  No work has been done on the effects this killing would have on resident populations.  The irony of the situation is that the California gray whale is a creature whose flesh is almost inedible for humans and only eaten in times of extreme hunger.  The   meat is also severely affected by toxic pollution.  The flesh of a gray whale killed accidentally last year in Neah Bay still lies frozen in Makah freezers.

COMMONALITY BETWEEN GRAYS AND HUMPBACKS
A quick comparison between humpbacks found in Australian waters and gray whales gives some useful information.  Both species are baleen whales who hug the coastline of the vast continents they pass on their migratory routes.  With an increase of 12 percent per annum, the humpback population is not considered recovered - indeed scientists monitoring this whale species say that it remains critically endangered.  In contrast, the California gray whale with a recovery rate at best of only 2.6 percent per annum is accepted as recovered by US authorities.  Without any regard for the precautionary principle, or a catastrophe such as disease, a claimed (no one knows for sure) recovery rate of 2.6 percent is very tenuous indeed.

LOOK AT THESE FACTS
We've gathered together a collection of statements by scientists who are studying the gray whale.  If you want copies of the relevant papers, please let us know.

  • Of all baleen whales found to have been entangled in fishing nets, 93.8% were gray whales and the majority of those were young animals travelling close to shore with their mothers.
  • Fisheries-related mortality ranges from 8.7 to 25.8% along the migration route.
  • Sexually immature animals represent 90% of all strandings.
  • Less than 5% of all gray whale mortalities are reported and examined.
  • Combined mortalities of immature animals represent 79.5% of the total.
  • Annual adult mortality is approximately 1,407 animals.  Currently,  the total population is estimated at approximately 21,000 animals
  • Over 29 years, 38% of whales were killed inside lagoons.  The majority of      lagoon catches were females.
  • The life span of the gray whale is around 30-77 years.
  • Pregnancy duration is approximately 13 months.
  • Female reproduction rate is one calf every two years.

MAKAH TRIBAL RIGHTS
Documented historical evidence of Makah involvement with the whale
demonstrates a few practices which may not be any more acceptable than their attempt to recommence whaling after a 70-year break.

The Makah tribe kept slaves.

A warrior who intended to kill a whale had to live in complete celibacy for up to a year.  The climax of his ritual cleansing involved swimming prior to going out to hunt a whale.  Some of the tribal elders are totally opposed to the recommencement of whaling on any grounds.  They say times have changed and that killing the whale is no longer necessary.  But their voices have been silenced by the income-seeking Tribal Council and these elders ae enduring considerable harassment in their own community.  There is no majority within the tribe to kill whales.  Many people and groups have tried to persuade the Makah to begin a whale-watching operation instead, but the Tribal Council has resisted all efforts to negotiate a solution.

OPINION
Much has been said in recent years about native rights.  Most discussions have been stopped in their infancy by accusations of racism.  As countries with indigenous tribes wrestle with the problem of delivering justice in 1998 in an effort to wipe out the historical record of exploitation, murder and destruction, attempts at public discussion and debate have been resisted.

Instead, what seems to be happening in the incredible rush to right the historical wrongs is that the earth and its creatures are becoming the sacrificial victims on the altar of guilt.  Changes being visited on ALL humanity are irresistible.  No tribe, no civilisation, no race is immune from humanity's evolution.  We are all, each and every one of us capable of revering the earth and equally capable of destroying it.  Dividing people by creating a situation where there is one law for some and different justice for others makes for great tensions in societies.

For the Makah to ignore the overwhelming wishes of the American people is a a sad indictment of their capacity to behave just like the worst of greedy westerners.  For the truth is that greed knows no race, no sex, no type.  Greed is visited on all humanity whether we be black, white, yellow or a crossover of races.  What we need to do as humans is to celebrate our commonality; to work together in ensuring that the earth and its creatures survive for the next generations.  The struggle to stop the Makah is a microcosm of similar struggles taking place world-wide.

There is a desperate need for a moratorium which allows discussion in our communities, time to re-evaluate - to find other ways of making peace and bringing about reconciliation without killing animals and wiping out forests in the name of "indigenous" justice.

THE LEGAL CHALLENGE
Meyer and Glitzenstein, the Washington DC lawyers responsible for the legal challenge, have estimated legal costs will be in the vicinity of $20,000.  For British and Australian grass roots groups to find these funds in difficult economic times in their own countries is a big task.  Please help us save California gray whales by contributing to the legal challenge - by raising moneys in your own community to assist in the enormous task which must be undertaken.

If you are willing to be a friend to the gray whale, please send your donation to: Breach Marine Protection, Australians for Animals, or one of the assisting US groups - addresses below.  You can help by distributing this newsletter to as many whale supporters as possible throughout your communities.

Breach Marine Protection: 3 St. John's Street, Goule East Yorkshire DN14 5QL UK  Tel/Fax: +44 1405 769375      e-mail: <Breach.Env@aol.com>

Australians for Animals POBox 673, Byron Bay, NSW 2481 Australia
Tel/Fax: +61 66 843768        e-mail: <arnolds@om.com.au>

Funds can also be sent directly to D.J. Schubert, Meyer & Glitzenstein
Suite 405, 1601 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington DC 20009 USA  (Please ensure that donations are clearly marked: "Makah Whaling Lawsuit".)  Or one of the assisting US organisations. Please contact us for details.

KEY POINTS OF THE LAWSUIT
Breach Marine Protection UK, Australians for Animals, Congressman Jack Metcalf and others filed a lawsuit against William Daley, Secretary US Department of Commerce, James Baker, Administrator of NOAA, Rolland Schmitten, Director NMFS in the District Court of the District of Columbia on October 17, 1997.

The action seeks relief from the failure of NOAA and NMFS to comply with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Marine Sanctuaries Act (MSA), the Whaling Convention Act (WCA) and other statutes by deciding to authorize and promote the killing gray whales by the Makah tribe within the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary in northwest Washington.  NOAA and  the NMFS have undertaken and continue to undertake a host of actions without adequately considering the significant environmental effects flowing from these actions as required by NEPA and MSA.

The agencies' authorization and continued promotion of Makah whaling runs afoul of numerous statutory obligations, including the consultation requirements of the MSA and the permit issuance procedures under the WCA.  In addition, the agency's authorization and promotion of Makah whaling is arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law, in contravention of the purposes of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the International Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna (CITES).                                     
                                        Subsequent whale news
Congressman Metcalf's IWC Report |  Irish proposal to IWC
Previous Update |  Winter 97/98 "C-paper" | Civitas Home Page
 previous update                 following update                           home

THIS PAGE COVERS: Sport polar bear kills / Armadillo-sea turtle
conflict  /  Swain bear / "Bait" fish /  Decimation of Everglades birds / Release of Mexican wolves / (Scroll down for earlier entries.)
---------------------------

May 2, 1998                                                                                                      home
SPORT KILLING OF POLAR BEARS ENCOURAGED BY
LIFTING OF IMPORT RESTRICTIONS
American trophy hunters killed four bears in one week near Resolute Bay, an Inuit village in the Canadian Arctic.  To import the bears into the US, they will need  a permit from CITES showing that the skins belonged to bears who were part of the Resolute Bay quota of 35 bears.

The Inuit would have been able to sell the skins for c. $2000 each.  The hunters paid $18,000 each for the experience, which included tracking bears from dog sleds sleeping on the ice at temperatures as low as -40 degrees F.  In either case, most of the flesh would be fed to the sled dogs.  The money goes to the village as a whole.

(Continued on page 52)