A Planned Whale Hunt? Does it seem as odd to all of you as it does to me, that in a time when citizens from Oregon and Iceland are joining together to support (financially, environmentally, and emotionally) the transfer and eventual release of Keiko the whale (Free Willy), that the Makah Indian Tribe in Washington (Neah Bay) are planning a "whale hunt?" They are planning to use traditional canoes - AND MOTOR BOATS, HIGH POWERED HARPOON GUNS, AND A 50 CALIBER RIFLE (Oregonian, 8/21/98, Section B, pp. 1 & 8) - to kill 5 migrating gray whales! Why? Not because their tribe *needs* the meat, skins or oil as in earlier times, but because they wish to maintain the long standing cultural heritage of their tribe - whaling. I really doubt that their ancestors would respect this modern day version of whale hunting, nor do I imagine that their ancestors would believe this to be an honorable or correct representation of the tribe's cultural ancestry. Well, folks this is *NOT* okay with me. While in past eras whaling was indeed part of many tribes "culture of survival," survival is no longer necessary through the killing of whales. Thus, this now feels like a practice of needless violence against a species who has "no voice" in the matter - or at least none that this tribe is hearing. The animals, fish, and birds of the world are already dying in great numbers due to the frank and needless anthropocentrism of man