Makah tribesman proud he killed whale

[Amelia]

Makah tribesman proud he killed whale

Monday, September 10, 2007

Associated Press

NEAH BAY, Wash. -- Makah Indian whaling captain Wayne Johnson said he's proud of killing a gray whale Saturday and wishes he had done it earlier.

He says he comes from a whaling family and it's in his blood.

The 54-year-old also led the tribal crew that legally killed a whale eight years ago. But he didn't have permission for the latest hunt with four others

He says a 40-foot whale came alongside their boat off Neah Bay and they hit it with five whaling harpoons and four seal harpoons. Then they shot it with a high-power rifle. The whale later sank and died.

The Coast Guard and National Marine Fisheries Service said the gray whale could refloat as it decays. If it is found, the carcass would likely be evidence in the legal case against the Makah tribal members.

Coast Guard spokesman Shawn Eggert said buoys were cut from the whale when it sank Saturday, but it still carries a harpoon.

National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman Brian Gorman said the decaying process could cause the whale to float in two or three days in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. But it could drift for miles and never be found. He said hundreds of gray whales die every year of natural causes and very few are found on beaches.

The men were arrested by the Coast Guard and turned over to the Makah Tribe. It has condemned the hunt and says the men will be prosecuted in tribal court.

The National Marine Fisheries Service says the men who killed the whale could be fined $25,000 each for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The Makah Tribe has about more than 1,000 members and a reservation at the northwest tip of Washington. It has a treaty right to hunt whales but the authorization has been delayed by courts, regulations and opposition from animal rights activists.

The whaling captain, Wayne Johnson, told The Seattle Times he was tired of waiting for federal approval