=====  A message from the 'makahwhaling' discussion list  =====

ACTION ALERT
------------------------

The Makah have just designated the visiting Puyallup tribe's canoe as a
"support vessel." This is a blatantly illegal act, and we are asking all
concerned people to call the U.S. Coast Guard, demanding that they not allow
the Puyallup canoe in the Exclusion Zone! The ramifications of this act are
frightening, and demand the attention of whale defenders around the globe.

PLEASE CALL and voice your protest to the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Neah
Bay. (360) 645-2236.


SEDNA UPDATE
-------------------------
May 15, 1999 (1:13 p.m.)


SEDNA Activists Released;
Charge Coast Guard Aids
In Killing of Gray Whales

NEAH BAY, WA

The eight-member crew of the environmental group Sea Defense Alliance was
released early Saturday afternoon from the U.S. Coast Guard Station here
after being detained for several hours.

However, the group's chief anti-whaling vessel is now being held as
"evidence" on charges described as "absurd" by the skipper of the group's
now-seized "ecofleet."

"It's abundantly clear that the U.S. government is doing all that it can to
kill a whale, including protecting whale killers and prosecuting those
protesting it," said Jonathan Paul, captain of "Bulletproof," SEDNA's
flagship.

He and another as-yet-unidentified activist were charged with violating the
federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, something Paul said was absurd and
ironic.

"Our boat, according to video I've seen, did not in any way endanger a
whale. It cannot because it has no props. The Makah whalers, on the other
hand, have already harpooned and injured a whale...and are trying to kill
one. They are who should be charged," said Paul.

He said the Coast Guard is trumping up charges simply to take SEDNA's boats
(both of them have now been seized for "evidence") and those of other groups
out of the water and allow the Makah to kill or injure more Gray Whales.

SEDNA is now attempting to secure additional vessels to protest the hunt.
*****