These preparations were considered essential before the select few whalers went to sea. In a tight tribal hierarchy, it was the whaling families who had the greatest power to rule as chiefs. Now, after a 70 year lapse in which the Makah have not whaled, and at time when there is zero nutritional subsistence need for whales, they wish to reassert their Treaty right to kill gray whales, protected internationally since 1946. Though there is no obvious way in which it could be done legally at the present time, many in the Makah community believe there will be a way to make money from the renewed whaling. What surprised the opponents to whaling was the ferocity of the US delegation, headed by Dr. James Baker, as he proceeded to make the Makah proposal the overriding issue.
Gray whales inhabit near-shore coastal waters and therefore are vulnerable to human activity.
However, pollution, loss of habitat, increasing boat traffic and pressures caused by a rising human population are threats to the mere 23,000 gray whales living today. Over the past few decades, whale behavior has changed in response to the cessation of whaling. Friendly encounters between trusting whales and humans are becoming common. If renewed whaling occurs, gray whale feeding, mating and resting activities could be easily disturbed because the whales may begin to fear all passing boats, even those with no harmful intent. Once they learn to avoid vessels, the countless interactions between whales and boats will likely result in more flee responses, interruptions in feeding behaviors, disruptions of mother-calf interactions and fewer opportunities for whales to rest.