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From:
http://www.iwcoffice.org/_documents/commission/IWC58docs/58-WKM&AWI%2015.pdf

Makah Tribe�s Current Harvest Method
Once the Eastern North Pacific stock of gray whale had recovered by the 1990�s, the Tribe was interested in resuming its traditional ceremonial and subsistence whale hunt. The Tribe wanted to develop the hunt in a manner that incorporated and retained the ceremonial aspects of the traditional hunt but also would employ a safe and humane harvest method.

The Tribe was interested in substituting the traditional killing lance for a large caliber rifle both to eliminate a prolonged pursuit and because the use of the killing lance would be considered inhumane by modern standards. The Tribe contracted a veterinarian with a background in ballistics and together investigated the performance of several high caliber firearms including the Winchester.458 Magnum, the Weatherby .460 Magnum, the .50BMG, and the .577 A-Square Tyrannosaur. The Tribe found that all of these weapons to be adequate, but the .50BMG and .577 A-Square Tyrannosaur to be the most potent combination.

The .577 A-Square Tyrannosaur was selected for the 1999 hunt since it was a substantially lighter rifle (14 pounds versus 20 pounds for a .50BMG) and because it had a 3- round capacity (one cartridge in the chamber, two cartridges in the magazine) compared to the single-shot .50BMG caliber configurations which were tested. Any of the .50BMG firearm/ammunition combinations are considered more than adequate to humanely dispatch a gray whale (Ingling 1997). The .50BMG caliber firearm is capable of shooting a 570 grain bullet at 3,200 feet/second and generating 13,000 foot-pounds of energy and the .577 is capable of shooting a 750 grain bullet at 2,460 feet/second and generating 10,000 foot-pounds of energy (Ingling 1999).

Both of these firearm/cartridge combinations can penetrate 240 inches of water, and after using a correction factor, can penetrate the equivalent of 133 inches of flesh (Ingling 1999). The flesh covering the portion of the skull housing the brain is less than 10
inches thick and the flesh covering the portion of the upper spinal cord is about 18 inches thick on a 30 foot (9.1 m) gray whale (Ingling 1997). Considering the overwhelming firepower of a .50BMG or a .577 caliber firearm and the size of gray whales, this method is more than adequate to humanely dispatch gray whales.

The Tribe�s hunt incorporated the use of a large caliber firearm held by a rifleman on a small skiff referred to as the "chaseboat.� The driver of the chaseboat can maneuver the rifleman quickly to the harpooned whale in order to deliver a shot(s) at distances less than 30 feet (9.1 m) from the target area. By achieving a close proximity to the whale from the chase boat, the likelihood of delivering a successful shot increases and the risk of ricochet off the water surface is eliminated, accomplishing the Tribe�s objectives of conducting a humane and safe hunt with minimal public safety risks.

The whale harvested in 1999 using the method described above expired 8 minutes following the initial harpooning (Gosho 1999). By using the cold harpoon for the initial strike and following it immediately with close-range, accurate shots directed at the central nervous system from a high caliber rifle, the Tribe was also able to limit damage to edible subsistence products.

Cool...thanks.

Not a common topic of conversation amongst rifle looneys... .

I'm betting my .404 Jeffery with 400 gr Barnes Banded Solids would do the trick too...

.577 T-Rex in a pitching whaleboat...hope they have a lanyard on it.

It is usual for Eskimo hunters of the big whales to use an explosive tipped harpoon when making a strike on bowheads and other big whales. I suppose in some cases rifles come into play, as when they are netted instead of hunted, but they aren't really needed. They paddle their boats right along side the animal and "install" the harpoon(s). Properly done, it is all over very quickly. Then the work begins.

During the recent illegal shooting
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/2287877
several reports said they accidentally dropped their .50BMG overboard.

But this just came up when I tried to find one of those old articles:
"The tribe has sent divers in search of one of the guns that went overboard during the illegal hunt. But so far the weapon, a. 577 caliber rifle belonging to the tribe, remains at the bottom of the Strait of Juan de Fuca."
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20071004&slug=webwhale04m


Almost every news article about that shooting had a different rifle being used or lost!

Bruce

You mean to tell me that a .223 shooting TSX's wouldnt do the job?

It would if'n a Paradise boy was operatin' it . . . .

BMT

Seems I remember seeing a really old Savage ad where they used a 303 Savage to kill a whale.

Mike

I expect a lot of rifles would work OK if things went right. But shooting a many-ton cetacean in the open seas out of an open boat is not when you want things go wrong with your cartridge choice. So if it were me, I would go for bigger rather than smaller -- the .404 referred to earlier would be a minimum, not necessarily optimum.

No .223 AI's for this hunt .

Dennis

INTERESTING post! Good read, thanks for the link and quotes. I was following this story back when it was starting up. The anti's really made me angry with them. I mean, plenty of this specie of whale, and the people want to treat them with the utmost respect and EAT them. What was not to like???

On the .577, the boat or the shooter? I think I'd want a lanyard on the boat - attached to another vessel - a Mae West on the shooter and BOTH a Mae West and a lanyard on the .577!

Stuart

From the 13 page Makah Tribes report of the shooting:
http://ww2.peninsuladailynews.com/whale.pdf

The second possible reason for the lengthy time to death was that the wrong combination of gun and ammunition was used. In order to deliver a bullet that can enter the cranium of a whale and destroy the brain stem a large caliber rifle is needed (Ingling 1997). A rifle that delivers a large bullet at high velocity has the greatest potential to quickly and humanely kill a whale (Ingling 1997). According to tests performed in 1999 (Table 1 and Table 2), the Tribe determined that a rifle of .50 caliber or higher has demonstrated an overwhelming ability to damage the central nervous system sufficiently to instantaneously kill a whale (Ingling 1999).

The type of bullet is also very important. Soft tip or hollow point bullets are designed to crack when they hit tissue and expand causing maximum tissue damage (North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission 2001). A round that expands on impact is ineffective as there is a lot of tissue between the skin and the cranium of a whale. Pointed tip full metal jacket bullets are also ineffective at killing whales as they are reported to easily splinter, ricochet or capsize against bone (North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission 2001). Round tip, full metal jacket bullets have been shown to travel efficiently through flesh and to penetrate bone; round tip full metal jackets are the suggested bullet by the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission and the International Whaling Commission to humanely dispatch a whale (North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission 2001; International Whaling Commission 2006). The Makah Tribe�s Gray Whale Management Plan requires the use of a .50 caliber or larger rifle with round tip full metal jacket or monolithic solid type bullets as the primary weapon to quickly dispatch a whale after harpooning.


During the hunt the .577 caliber rifle purchased by the tribe for hunting gray whales fell into the water after having been accidentally discharged (statement by Keith Johnson). After the loss of the .577 caliber rifle, the hunters only had a Weatherby .460 Magnum and a shotgun available to dispatch the whale. The .460 Weathersby has 74% the energy as the .577 and in tests penetrated water (a flesh equivalent) only 39% the distance achieved by the .577 (Ingling 1999). The .460 Weatherby was purchased by the Makah Whaling Commission to allow hunters to practice shooting large caliber rifles, but the rifle was not approved for use in whale hunts. The Whaling Commission had blunt tipped full metal jacket rounds for the .460 but did not supply these rounds to the hunters. The hunters supplied their own rounds and it is unclear if the bullets they used had rounded tip full metal jackets that would most efficiently penetrate the skull of the whale or if they used more economical rounds that are more suitable for target shooting. Norwegian whale researchers have noted that bullets are available in many different qualities and that it is often the case that cheaper ones are of lesser quality (North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission 2001). Therefore, the choice of bullets and the unexpected use of the .460 may have resulted in the large number of shots needed to dispatch the whale. It is possible that these two factors � incorrect location of the shots and improper ammunition � worked together to render the hunting methods ineffectual in quickly and humanely killing the whale.
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The report has more information, including whale diagrams and cartridge performance tables.

Bruce

Well these whale cartridges would sure come in handy in thinning out the crowds at WalMart ...



Chuck

Hmmmm .... .460WBY, large number of shots and ineffectual ... are three things I never thought I would hear in the same train of thought!!!

Again, that Indian tribe really ought to consult with the Native people of the north. Those who hunt the great whales are members of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and they do have a clue. They also don't rely on big rifles when it comes to killing the whales. (A whale doesn't just lie there on the surface waiting for someone to kill it for food. ) I know a real mess was made locally, and in shallow water to boot, a few years ago, when a gray whale was caught in a net set mostly for belugas. Even a relatively captive whale cause a veritable war in the killing of it by rifles - a 375 or two notwithstanding.

http://www.uark.edu/misc/jcdixon/Historic_Whaling/AEWC/aewc_maggie%20presentation.htm

There's some interesting general whale hunting info about two-thirds of the way down the page, although they don't get into weapon specifics.