They worry that the gray whale die-off will lead the International Whaling Commission to reduce their subsistence quota, or ban their hunt altogether. And they worry about defenders of animal rights who would love to see that happen. Antiwhaling activists are fond of quoting the great-granddaughter of Geronimo, who delivered a message to a gathering of tribes on Orcas Island in 1998. But the native hunters of Chukotka say they don't have time for peace and whale songs. They're too busy trying to put blubber on the table.
Men go in the water.
Sometimes they are saved in time, sometimes not. But fewer men die now than before. With each season, the revival hunters of Chukotka grow wiser, more organized and better equipped. The first few seasons were chaos by comparison. The hunters went out in poorly constructed crafts scavenged from defunct state farms.