Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Natives IIIlegally Kill Gray Whale in Kuskokwim River

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Rural Alaska
NOAA investigates killing of gray whale in Kuskokwim River
pencil Author: Lisa Demer clock Updated: 1 hour ago calendar Published 1 day ago


One-year-old Erin Agnes takes home a load of muktuk for her family after a gray whale was hunted and eventually harvested outside of Napaskiak on Saturday, July 29, 2017. Residents of the Kuskokwim region have never seen a gray whale swim this far upriver before. (Katie Basile / KYUK Public Media)
BETHEL — The whale hunted and killed on the Kuskokwim River Thursday was identified by federal authorities as a large gray whale.

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration biologist in Juneau identified it through a photo, Julie Speegle, a NOAA spokeswoman, said Monday.

Gray whales are protected and aren't allowed to be hunted by anyone in Alaska. NOAA is investigating the shooting of the animal in the river near the village of Napaskiak. It had traveled some 60 miles into the river from the Bering Sea.

Some local residents said they had originally thought it was a much smaller beluga whale, which can be hunted by Alaska Natives under federal law.

Gray whales are sometimes called California gray whales and are the object of wide-scale whale watching off the coasts of California and Mexico's Baja California. The population of gray whales in the eastern part of the North Pacific Ocean — including the Bering Sea — is considered healthy and as of 1994, was no longer considered endangered, according to NOAA. But in the Atlantic Ocean, gray whales are extinct. In the western part of the North Pacific, off the coast of Asia, they are "critically endangered," according to NOAA.

No Native communities in Alaska have authority to hunt gray whales. The only legal hunts of large whales in U.S. waters are those by 11 northern Alaska communities that have permission to hunt bowhead whales.

The International Whaling Commission set a quota for Native people in Washington state and Chukotka in the Russian Far East to take limited numbers of gray whales. But unlike the situation with bowheads and Alaska whaling communities, the federal government doesn't have an agreement with the Makah tribe in Washington state to allow hunts of gray whale, Speegle said.

The matter has been in court for years. When a group of Makah tribal members hunted a gray whale anyway in 2007, tribal leaders and Washington's governor condemned it.

Gray whales have among the longest migration paths of any mammal, making a 9,000-plus-mile round trip every year from summer feeding grounds in the Chukchi, Beaufort and Bering seas to wintering areas mainly off the Baja California Peninsula.

In 1988, three gray whales that became trapped in pack ice near Point Barrow in Alaska became the subject of an international rescue effort and eventually the movie "Big Miracle."

About this Author

Lisa Demer

Lisa Demer is based in Bethel and covers rural Alaska stories. She has been a reporter more than three decades. Reach her at 907-543-3555.

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Yup, some good ones...

"skinnerAK
15 hours ago
Suppose this took place in the deep south.
That a whale, of an endangered species, had found it's way into a river, 60 miles inland. Suppose further, that the inhabitants all swarmed around, and shot the thing to death, over some long period of time.
Unwashed, illiterate, backward, toothless, inbred, beer-swillin' rebel-flag-wavin', (known fer molestin' their own chillen). Whoopin n hollerin. Killing such an animal, for lack of something better to do with their day.
Don't worry. They're gonna have themselves a barbecue later, once it's good n dead.
See the difference?
Me neither."

A simple case of mistaken identity because they were looking through their binoculars backwards

Binoculars???

There?

Agnes. Same name as the folks up there known for some open minded views on the laws, from what some here have said.

At least no sled dog teams were killed............this time.

That must be one stout kid. We need some pics.

If one can not distinguish between a beluga and a gray, he should seriously have his eyes examined.

Says the elk hunter to the game warden as he stands over a dead Bullwinkle, "but officer, I thought it was an elk!"

In the link What you quoted is actually the pic caption.

Pretty funny. I bet some guys had the time of their lives for about an hour before reality set in.

Way too many whales in the ocean as it is. Not going to make a dent.

Yeah, but how many are there in the Kuskokwim, now?

Don't worry, they will get a tribe paid "biologist" to speculate that the whale had come that far up the river to die of some ailment.

The natives, being stewards of the land, simply put the poor whale out of its misery and will utilize every bit of it. They will be lionized not punished.

Sadly, I suspect that you centered the X-ring. I seriously doubt a damn thing will come of it.

Jeff

Conrad wrote about reality being a "long-dead hippo" in the river. I suspect a long-dead whale would be really special in very short order.

Guess people were hungry for traditional food.

Be-nock-yu-lerz

Noun

Local term referencing peculiar use of empty liquor bottle where indigenous people close one eye and hold said empty liquor bottle bottom's base to their open eye in aiding wayward whale identification at great distances. Generally use of said hi-tech gear may cause users to confuse bright white colored with bumps on their heads and one quarter the size with the generally accepted visage and shape and size of the great whales.

Thanks, I have not laughed that hard in a long time!

Except that village never used whales "traditionally."

And of course the liberals play the usual race card to defend the shooters.

If only the whale was named Cecil..................

Kamo:

Good one there!

You know how much money a guy could make bringing several pallets of R&R? You gotta wash non-traditional food down with non traditional beverages.

A Mosin Nagant in the hands of 20 inebriated natives ain't nothing to laugh at. 😉

Humpy, Chinook, Beluga, Gray.....what's the difference? It's all pink on the inside.

Art, I've heard of whales going up river to die do you think that could've been the case? Do greys (or any whales) regularly go up the Kuskokwim?

60 miles is a long way for a whale to go in freshwater.. First whale seen there in anyone's memory. That was part of the problem cutting it up, no one knew how.

I have heard first hand accounts the stench was/is incredible!

Yeah if butchering a whale isn't part of ones upbringing I'd imagine that the learning curve could be steep. I wonder how many bears will follow the stench.

Not heavy bear country, so not a lot to start...

How about wolves and coyotes? Then there are the birds.

Yeah, you are used to making fish filets, and can you imagine trying to smoke the filets ?

Just dealing with the incredible quantity of food is unreal... and without near enough room in all of the local freezers combined.

A Native coworker was talking about how good fermented walrus is... "...but it gives the whole village really bad gas!"

I'm not a picky eater in the slightest but I draw the line somewhere and Seal flipper or fermented Walrus is where my line is. 😳

I've had roast sea lion and went back for seconds, whale is a bit chewy for my taste, not sure if the seal oil I got was rancid or not, but I figure since my dog wouldn't eat it when drizzled over his kibbles that was a sign.

I think I'll pass on the fermented marine mammals.

Fresh, first rendering, Netsik (Ringed Seal) oil is almost clear, thin and has very little fish odor. It is really good for dipping dried Sheefish and dried Caribou meat in.

You can tell right away if any seal oil is first rendering or subsequent as they get darker with each rendering and the amount of heat used. The first rendering happens at room temperature or slightly above.

Dark seal oil is best used in someone else's house.

As for fermented seal or walrus flipper, too many people want to take the shortcut of putting it in a Ziplock bag to ferment and they get a really nice crop of botulinium growing. Thanks, I'll just have more muktuk,

Ed

Hi Ed! So, would the good stuff be labeled EVSO(Extra Virgin Seal Oil)?

Jeff

Only if the seal had never had sex... duh!

The seal oil I had was very clear so first rendering. I don't know how it had been cared for after rendering or how old it was. Maybe it was perfectly good and I just don't appreciate seal oil. I'd be up to trying it again especially with some dried fish or caribou.

Tupperware and walrus.........





Both like a tight seal.

Lots of methods of preserving meat do not require a freezer. Dried, salted, pickled, smoked, jerked, come to mind. I doubt they could Irradiate the meat, but a sealed beef steak so treated will store for at least 10 years, at room temp. (NO bacteria, no break down).
Only reason for the meat to go bad, would be not enough labor in time.

Glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that, would have gone out the nose for sure.

Glad too. Would hate for you to waste a good ale.

Unfortunately I just started my two week work imposed dry spell, so no ales, lagers, stouts, ambers or pilsners were at risk

Hi, Jeff! Yes, Art has it right. If it had already had sex, then it would simply be VSO. If that goes rancid, it is known as VSO-P (Virgin Seal Oil-Putrid) NOT to be confused with a decent brandy.

Ed

Could have been oogruk (Bearded Seal) which is stronger flavored and more common. Could even have been Walrus, but I don't know anyone who renders that down for oil.

Ed

Lots of things sounded wrong with what happened with that whale - not the least of which was the reporting. I don't recall anyone getting their undies in a wad when one was netted locally some years ago....and subsequently cut up and dispersed to grateful residents. Not sure if it was pay-back a few years after when another grey came to the same area and hauled another similar net out to deeper water 30 miles away or not... Kind of fun to watch the big red buoys go 'swimming' away though.

They net whales? That brings dipnetting to whole new level

Belugas, yeah. The school kiddos even learn to tie whale nets. One of my favorite memories of my early years teaching was seeing an 'academically challenged' kid who had tied a net the previous year in his bicultural class learn to cut the whale it caught the next fall. As for what it takes to hold them, #72 twine is minimum for the web on a net specifically intended to hold small whales. The strength of even a near-dead beluga is pretty amazing when he's tangled in the lines of a salmon set-net which is tied to the rail of a 90 hp'ed skiff. I knew it wasn't going to end well when he headed for an anchored barge and the metal flukes of the prop were no match for flukes of flesh.

Dip-netting? Now that's an idea that I better not mention to my 16-year-old. Though he's presently recovering from a broken wrist which he suffered when he took a dive on his long board, I could just see him try riding a whale-powered 'jet ski'.

That would be awesome!

I assume you guys are still in Fairbanks based on the skate board injury. Do you get back to SMK during the summer to get some fish?

Were you able to get dip time Paul?

That son has become a permanent 'city resident', but I, and three boys drove into town at 7AM yesterday. Some fishing got done, though pinks were choking our efforts considerably...... when we weren't dealing with clean-up issues. A brother who last came up for a visit 29+ years ago was about the only bright spot in an otherwise dreary summer. That was a fine week.

I spent a day down on the Kasilof with a friend and brought home 21. It was slow fishing but I won't complain about having some fish in freezer.

So have you got your tractor yet?

Later this month.