NEAH BAY – Tribal police set up a checkpoint just inside the reservation boundary in Neah Bay on Sunday braced for anti-whaling demonstrators who never materialized.
The Coast Guard also dispatched a Marine Safety and Security Team from Seattle to its Neah Bay base.
“They were asked [on Saturday] to come up in case there was a security issue because of the whale,” said Petty Officer Shawn Eggert.
“It was just additional security in case any protesters decided to show up,” said Eggert, who called the team “extra bodies so the station could continue to operate.”
The tribe is receiving death threats by e-mail and by telephone over the kill, tribal officials said.
The whale was harpooned by 9:30 a.m. Saturday, according to witnesses along the Strait, about a quarter-mile off Seal Rock and Sail Rock that lie about 2½ miles northeast of Neah Bay.
One witness said he heard 21 shots from the two boats hunting the whale.
One tribal councilman told an associate, “It turned out messy,” and that the hunters had run out of ammunition.
News of the incident spread quickly through Neah Bay, population 1,100, and tribal members lined the shore as the stricken whale was hauled toward the harbor.
The Tribal Council met much of Saturday, briefed tribal members Saturday night in a community meeting that was closed to the news media and met most of Sunday morning before releasing the statement condemning the hunt.
Here is the statement:
“The Makah Tribal Council denounces the actions of those who took it upon themselves to hunt a whale without the authority from the Makah Tribal Council or the Makah Whaling Commission.
“Their action was a blatant violation of our law and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“We are cooperating with the National Marine Fisheries Service in their investigation of this incident and will continue to do so.
“The individuals who took part in this act were arrested by Makah enforcement officers and booked in our detention facility.
“They were released only after meeting the bail requirements set by the court.
“They will stand trial in our court at a future date.
“We had a meeting of the general council of the Makah tribe to discuss this incident and the membership of the tribe supports our action.
“The tribe has demonstrated extraordinary patience in waiting for the legal process to be completed in order to receive our permit to conduct a whale hunt.
“We are a law-abiding people and we will not tolerate lawless conduct by any of our members.
“We hope the public does not permit the actions of five irresponsible persons to be used to harm the image of the entire Makah tribe.
