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From: Arthur M. Greene <amg52_at_columbia.edu>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Whales
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 12:07:03 -0400
>This Intervention/blockade would reflect badly on all Sea Kayakers. Note that
>this is being organized by venders who have a commercial interest in whales
>i.e. whale researchers, whale watching boats etc.

I would hardly equate the "commercial interest" of whale researchers, whose
aim is to learn about whale behavior, the role of whales in the marine
ecosystem, communication via sounds, and so on, with the interest of
whalers, which is to make money by selling whale meat. Not only are the
goals vastly different, but more importantly, so are the results. Even
whale-watching boats, though perhaps more profit-oriented, do not have the
end in mind of killing their subjects.

Re the Makah: IMHO it is misguided to think that setting out on this hunt
will revitalize tribal culture or increase tourism dollars. The world is a
changing place, and we all must learn to adapt, or suffer the consequences.
It is ironic that cultural ways that derived from a closeness to the sea
and the necessities of an earlier time, now come into conflict with a
world, an ocean, and more importantly, an understanding of them that has
vastly changed. The whale hunt has become an anachronism, with which these
earlier ways are now in (unfortunately unacknowledged) conflict.

Just my $0.03.

AMG
Arthur M. Greene
amg52_at_columbia.edu

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