since the real punchline to this horror show is at the bottom, i'll spare you the details and give you the utter nonsense (as opposed to the rest of the story, which is usual nonsense).

<<The whale died early Saturday evening, about 10 hours after the shots were fired. The whale sank while heading out to sea. No one was making plans yesterday to retrieve the sunken whale.>>

so... what was the fucking point? they kill the whale but don't even use it? was this some sort of political statement? or just more human stupidity?

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......

if i grind my teeth any harder i'll have nothing left to chew with.


www.theglobeandmail.com/servle...ational

Rogue hunters kill grey whale

ROBERT MATAS

September 10, 2007

Dave Sallee heard shots from a high-powered hunting rifle shortly after he spotted the majestic North Pacific grey whale in the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Vancouver Island and Washington state.

The whale, which was about 10 metres long, rose out of the water with a buoy hooked to it and splashed back down. Two motor boats - with three men in the larger boat and two in the smaller boat - were on either side of the whale. The whale went underwater and changed direction; the motor boats changed direction.

"The whale was in a big panic, trying to get away. It was like watching Jaws," Mr. Salle said in an interview, referring to the classic 1975 Steven Spielberg shark film. "The buoy was hooked onto the whale somehow; it was going up and down, up and down, fighting for its life. It was a frantic situation. If they were showing this on TV, you would have to announce, 'If you have a weak stomach, don't watch this.' "

Finally, the whale headed into the middle of the strait.

"That's when the shooting started," Mr. Sallee said, who had a front-row seat to the hunt when returning from a morning of salmon fishing with a friend. "We counted 21 shots and that's when we called the Coast Guard," he said.

About 200-250 grey whales spend the summer and fall feeding along the Pacific coast south of Alaska. The grey whales are not considered an endangered species, but a moratorium imposed by the U.S. government in 1994 prohibits whaling for the greys.

The Makah tribe, who live near Neah Bay in Washington, assert their right to whaling under an 1855 treaty that recognizes the tribe's right to hunt the whales for traditional subsistence or cultural needs.

The Makah attracted international controversy in 1999 when they obtained a permit and then killed a whale for the first time in seven decades. A subsequent court challenge resulted in an appeal-court decision in 2004 that stated the tribe must obtain a waiver of the moratorium before exercising their treaty rights.

However, the killing this weekend was not sanctioned by the tribal whaling commission, Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the U.S. National Marine Fisher Service, said in an interview yesterday.

The Makah are currently in the final stages of the process to receive the waiver, clearing the way for a whale hunt in the spring of 2008. "It's puzzling what happened," he said.

Those involved in killing the whale could face federal civil penalties of a fine of up to $20,000 and a possible jail sentence, he added.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Shawn Eggert said in an interview the Coast Guard detained five men Saturday for about five hours. After questioning by officials from U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, the men were released from custody to the Makah band.

The whale was shot with a high powered .460 Weatherby Magnum hunting rifle, one of the largest shoulder-fired cartridge weapons on the market, he said.

Members of the band met behind closed doors Saturday evening and yesterday to figure out how to deal with the five rogue whale hunters . Tribal officials did not respond to phonemessages yesterday.

Mr. Sallee, who lives in the town of Forks, Wash., said the weather was sunny and clear. The water was calm. He saw several buoys and a harpoon in the boats. When the shooting began, he and his friend headed ashore and called the Coast Guard.

They watched the whale for more than four hours as it struggled to survive. "It was obvious in Neah Bay that some of the tribe supported what was going on and some of the tribe were extremely agitated over what was going on," Mr. Sallee said.

The whale died early Saturday evening, about 10 hours after the shots were fired. The whale sank while heading out to sea. No one was making plans yesterday to retrieve the sunken whale.