Whale dies after being shot with machine gun

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/09/whale.shot.ap/index.html

Note that the population this whale belings to was the first marine mammal population removed from the Endangered Species Act due to recovery. However, it is still protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Alaskan native tribes can get exemptions to hunt whales for subsistence. However, it appaears that the tribe in question had not yet received their exemption to take grey whales as part of subsistence hunting. Terrible waste in that it apparently died without them even getting any subsistence value out of it.

Mike

What a terrible waste. Every day it seems more and more groups are now targeting the last remaining large animals in the sea...the "protected" whales.

.50 caliber machine gun???

Similarly, the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic lay waste to several hundred Narwhals each year. Though they are allowed by law to do so, their landing-to-kill ratio is very poor. While there is a quota set by the government, there is believed to be hundreds killed that go unreported.

National Geographic had an article on this in the August issue (Link).

The Inuit also sell the ivory of the narwhal to "art collectors" for around 125/ft, giving the "fishermen" more of a reason to try and land as many narwhal as possible. The description within the article makes it feel like a turkey shoot.

Here's a little follow up to the story. Captain's tired of waiting to kill whales, cause its in his blood. Hope he enjoys the $25k fine.

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_...t.bda6266d.html

Steve B

Such a shame.......

There was no machine gun, that was media hype, there were multiple shots from a high-power rifle.

These guys were rogues, typical macho BS. I hope the Feds step in and convict them, nothing the tribe is going to do will merit much.

Personally, if there was a demonstrated cultural tie to hunting a few grey whales, I don't think it would hurt anything. They are in great abundance now, even dying from lack of food due to over-population.

But this kind of lack of respect and lawlessness cannot happen.

Jack

There was no machine gun, that was media hype, there were multiple shots from a high-power rifle.

 

These guys were rogues, typical macho BS. I hope the Feds step in and convict them, nothing the tribe is going to do will merit much.

 

Personally, if there was a demonstrated cultural tie to hunting a few grey whales, I don't think it would hurt anything. They are in great abundance now, even dying from lack of food due to over-population.

 

But this kind of lack of respect and lawlessness cannot happen.

 

Jack

Yes, CNN changed the story to reflect a more accurate report -- but not with a new link. Great way to report on something -- post the story and if it is wrong, just replace it with something else!

Mike

PS The thing about starving from over-population -- that is one theory among many (one can also starve if the amount of food available starts to decline as well), but you are right in that they are certainly not endangered.

I would be careful about assuming that relative abundance means not endangered. If a population is unhealthy and there are many assaults on its population, a drastic and rapid decline can precipitate.

In addition, recent published scientific research (based on DNA analysis) indicates that the population was actually at least 12 times more than commonly thought (over 300,000). If this is further verified, i can hardly stand by a claim that 8% of the original population counts as 'over population'. It stands to reason that habitat destruction is the primary cause. Considering grey whales primarly feed in shallow coastal waters, it is no surprise that such damage has occured.