The Makah have killed a juvenile gray whale!

We must not let this young whale die in vain!!
Please Help Save the Whales Again!!!

On May 17th, the Makah Indians killed a young, juvenile gray whale in a National Marine Sanctuary with the full support of the Clinton/Gore administration, the US Dept of Commerce, the National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the US Coast Guard, costing US citizens millions of tax dollars, while setting a precedent that may overturn the global moratorium on commercial whaling. It was a dark day in our history as the United States became a pirate whaling nation joining the ranks of Norway, Russia, and Japan. The US Government and the media portray this hunt as legal and authorized by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), but the Makah and the US Government are killing whales without the necessary approval from the IWC.

Dr. Ray Gambell, secretariat to the IWC, writes “The IWC has not passed judgement on recognizing or otherwise the claim by the Makah, as the member nations were unable to agree.”

In a back door deal, the US traded 20 endangered bowhead whales allocated to Alaskan Inuits to Russia for 20 gray whales allocated to Siberian natives. This trade was illegal under the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITIES). The Clinton/Gore administration is abusing its power to circumvent and break international laws and we must not allow them to get away with it. The lives of 19 more gray whales depend on it, the lives of thousands of whales worldwide depend on it, and the integrity of the United States and its citizens depend on it.

On October 1,1998, the Clinton/Gore Administration issued the Makah Indians, a coastal tribe in Washington state, a permit which allows them to kill up to 20 gray whales over the next 4 years in the Olympic National Marine Sanctuary, a sanctuary established by our government to be a safe-haven for wildlife.. The Makah, whose last whale hunt was over 70 years ago, claim they needed to return to whaling to revive their culture and traditions, by invoking a treaty right granted to them in 1855. In 1855, the US was a whaling nation and there were no laws against any US citizen whaling. In 1928, the Makah were made US citizens under another treaty. In 1972, the US passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act which made the killing of whales by US citizens illegal. In 1982, the US signed the treaty for the global moratorium on commercial whaling. The treaties of 1928 and 1982 supercede the 1855 treaty while the laws governing the killing of whales by US citizens pertain to the Makah, yet the Makah were still given permission to kill gray whales by the Clinton/Gore administration. The Makah are utilizing motorized chase boats, 50 caliber guns, and a US Coast Guard escort, all of which have cost US taxpayers millions of dollars to date, to kill gray whales, the same friendly, gentle giants who now approach humans, seeking contact, wanting to be touched, trusting us. This is an outrage!

The young, juvenile whale the Makah killed closely approached their canoe and just gave itself up to them, according to the hunters, but gray whales routinely approach boats seeking interaction because they have had no fear of harm from us until now, especially in National Marine Sanctuaries. Not only did President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore condone this hunt, they used the Marine Mammal Protection Act against US citizens who risked their lives by placing themselves and their boats between harpoons, 50 caliber guns, and the whales in order to prevent the whales from being killed. Talk about Hypocracy… the Marine Mammal Protection Act was enacted to save whales and other marine mammals, not as a means to kill them.

It is time for us to act! The Makah and the Clinton/Gore administration must be stopped before it is too late! It is time for us to Save the Whales Again!!!
 

Here’s what you can do:

1. Contact President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and your US Congressmen and Senators and tell them that they must withdraw their support of the Makah Whale Hunt immediately, tell them that you are outraged and do not sanction your tax dollars being spent to help kill whales and that you will not tolerate the United States or any of its citizens violating US and international law.

US Capitol Switchboard:  (202) 224-3121
White House Comment Line:  (202) 456-2461
White House Fax Line: (202) 456-2461
President Clinton’s e-mail address: president@whitehouse.gov
Vice President Gore’s e-mail address: vice-president@whitehouse.gov
President Clinton’s mailing address:

President William Jefferson Clinton
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC 20500

Dr. James Baker, Administrator
NOAA
Herbert C. Hoover Bldg. Room 5128
14th & Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20230
Tel/Fax: (202) 408-9674

2. Write the Makah Indian Tribal Council and tell them to cease hunting immediately, that as US citizens they are required by law to abide by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Global Moratorium on Whaling and if they do otherwise, you will demand that Congress cease all federal funding to their reservation.

The Makah Tribal Council
Ben Johnson, Tribal Chairman
PO Box 115
Neah Bay, WA 9835
Tel. (360) 645-2201

3. Join the Whaleman Foundation