===== A message from the 'makahwhaling' discussion list ===== FROM WCCA --------------------- The U.S. Coast Guard announced today that their controversial "Exclusion Zone," created for the benefit of the Makah whalers, would be extended from 300 yards to 500 yards around any Makah whaling boats. They also announced that the Makah would be allowed to call for the Exclusion Zone for an additional thirteen miles south along the coastline of the Olympic National Marine Sancturay. This greatly expands the area in which the US Coast Guard can assist the Makah in killing a whale. ***** FROM SEA SHEPHERD CONSERVATION SOCIETY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 15, 1999 WHALES WIN THE DAY -- SEA SHEPHERD: 1, MAKAH WHALERS/JAPAN: 0 *Whale activists successfully interfere with illegal whale hunt For nine and half hours on Saturday, arrayed against the full force of the U.S. Coast Guard -- which deployed a large cutter, three 40-foot support craft, two zodiacs, and two helicopters -- whale activists successfully prevented the Makah Indian tribe from killing a whale in the waters of Washington state. "It was David vs. Goliath," said Sea Shepherd President Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society patrol vessel Sirenian. "The Coast Guard arrested everybody else on the water and seized their boats on every charge they could think of, until our vessel and the West Coast Anti-Whaling Society's boats were the only ones left. But with all their support and government protection, with nothing but a 45-year-old patrol vessel and a 20-year-old zodiac we still prevented the Makah from taking a whale. Determination won out over technology, speedboats, and government force." The hunt, long advertised by the tribe as a "traditional" effort that would involve the ceremonial hurling of a harpoon at a whale that had "chosen to give itself" to the whalers, devolved into a canoe being towed to one pod of migrating whales after another at speeds of up to 15 knots. The Makah attempted to harpoon nursing mothers with calves, a direct violation of their management agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service. "That tells you all you need to know about this 'traditional, spiritual' hunt and the Makah Tribal Council's apparent determination to shame their ancestors," said Watson. "This is a bloody farce." Early in the morning, the whalers, trying for a quick kill with no media present, dispensed with the harpoon altogether and fired their anti-tank gun at a whale. The shot missed. After media crews arrived, the Makah did not fire the weapon again and denied having done so, though Sea Shepherd photographers videotaped the hunters firing the gun. Sirenian found two dead sea lions in the water, presumed to have been victims of Makah target practice. "The canoe and harpoon was a show for the media," said Sea Shepherd International Director Lisa Distefano. "In accordance with their management plan, the Makah can now dispense with any pretense of ceremony and go after the whales with just speedboats and guns from now on. "Vice President Al Gore, Secretary of Commerce Daley, and U.S. whaling commissioner James Baker have a lot to answer for," said Distefano. "They paved the way for this lunacy and are still maintaining this is a 'subsistence' hunt, even though the Makah made it clear in 1995 that they intend to go into commercial whaling and the role of Japan's whaling industry in this scheme is a matter of record." The U.S. Coast Guard arrested and released several whale activists, including Scott Hopper of Washington and Cheryl Rorabeck Siler and Jonathan Paul of Oregon, seizing their boats. Distefano and Sea Shepherd crewmember Alison Lance were arrested and charged with "gross negligence" after intercepting the whaling canoe in a zodiac. The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and $5,000 fine. ### ===================================== Sea Shepherd Conservation Society P.O. Box 628 Venice, CA. 90294 USA e-mail: seashepherd@seashepherd.org Web Site: http://www.seashepherd.org Tel: 310-301-SEAL(7325) Canada: 604-688-7325 Fax: 310-574-3161 ===================================== ***** FROM SEDNA ---------------------- SEA DEFENSE ALLIANCE DENIES COLLISION WITH WHALE;CHARGES MAKAH NEARLY CAUSED ACCIDENT NEAH BAY, WA - An environmental organization in the middle of anti-whaling protests on the high seas this past week said Sunday that charges one of its boats had "collided" with a whale Saturday were completely untrue. In fact, according to Sea Defense Alliance (SEDNA) director Jonathan Paul, who piloted the SEDNA flagship, it was the Makah who nearly caused a collision with a SEDNA boat and a whale Saturday. "News videotape shows our flagship, the 'Bulletproof,' missing a whale swimming nearby. What that videotape does not show, and a video that we took does make clear, is that the Makah gunboat was with a dozen or so feet of us, driving us toward the whale," said Paul in a statement Sunday. He said he managed to safely maneuver his boat away from the whale and the Makah gunners who were headed toward the whale, ready to shoot it. "Our boat, unlike the Makah's gunboat, was unable to injure a whale...we have no props; everything is inboard, and we're aluminum," said Paul, adding that charges against him for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act are false and ironic. "Something is dreadfully wrong. The Makah are hunting with high-powered weapons in a whale sanctuary. They have harassed, harpooned and shot at gray whales, and yet are assisted by our government. Whale defenders are nonviolently protesting this atrocity, and yet are boarded at gunpoint, arrested and have their rights violated by the same government. Something is very, very wrong," Paul said. Both SEDNA boats have been seized by the U.S. Coast Guard, allegedly for "investigation" which Paul said is a covert attempt to keep them from protesting. Paul said the SEDNA group is attempting to obtain new vessels. *****