Makah Whale Hunters Make No Kill

A seven-member Makah family spent two long days hunting for a gray whale over the weekend, but failed to make a kill despite several close encounters with whales.

The family headed by Paul Parker hunted for about 10 hours on both Saturday and Sunday in sunny weather and mostly calm seas. They were watched from a distance by the U.S. Coast Guard and a flotilla of anti-whaling protest boats.

Sunday’s hunt was the fourth by the family in the past month. Their 10-day permit expires May 16, after which they can apply for a new one.

“They’re not discouraged at all,” Keith Johnson, whaling commission president, told KIRO-TV.

The hunting team came within a few yards of whales on both days, though the giant mammals were more numerous on Saturday. At one point Saturday, the hunters’ canoe approached within striking distance of a whale, but the harpooner’s weapon was stuck beneath a seat on the vessel.

“By the time he got it free from under the seat, the whale dove,” said Arnie Hunter, vice president of the Makah Whaling Commission and captain of the power chase boat. “Otherwise that would have been a good one.”

There were no whale strikes, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Fred Myer said.

No confrontations between whalers and protesters were reported. The protest boat remained outside a 500-yard moving exclusionary zone, Myer said.