But now federal and state officials warn that planned efforts to frighten whales away from from Indian harpoons may bring fines or jail time for environmentalists. Sometime in the coming weeks, Makah tribal members will set out on the Pacific Ocean in a dugout canoe to revive an ancient whale hunt after a 70-year hiatus.
Tribal elders describe whaling as a central tradition of the small band.
But the assertion of a treaty right in the name of restoring culture has drawn an international flotilla of protest ships. Anti-whaling groups plan to shadow the tribal hunting party while broadcasting underwater the sounds of killer whales attacking to scare gray whales away. The Sea Shepherd team is also ready to deploy a two-person submarine painted like the gray whale's enemy, the orca. But these tricks may constitute a federal crime. On board a patrol cutter painted an intimidating black, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson said he fears he will be singled out for prosecution because the government backs the Makah whalers.