A 37-foot whale was caught by some local hunters.
Federal officials on Tuesday were investigating the killing of a protected gray whale by Native hunters in Alaska after the massive animal strayed into a river in an area where indigenous residents rely on subsistence fishing and hunting as part of their ancient culture and traditions.
The hunters peppered the 37-foot whale with gunfire and harpoons last week until it died and sank to the bottom of the Kuskokwim River near the Yup'ik Eskimo village of Napaskiak. The carcass was later retrieved and cut up, with 20,000 pounds of meat and blubber distributed among several villages.
Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it appears to have been an unauthorized harvest of a gray whale — a species that is off-limits to hunting in Alaska, even by Natives.
Reference source: UC news
Emeks Empire
Federal officials on Tuesday were investigating the killing of a protected gray whale by Native hunters in Alaska after the massive animal strayed into a river in an area where indigenous residents rely on subsistence fishing and hunting as part of their ancient culture and traditions.
The hunters peppered the 37-foot whale with gunfire and harpoons last week until it died and sank to the bottom of the Kuskokwim River near the Yup'ik Eskimo village of Napaskiak. The carcass was later retrieved and cut up, with 20,000 pounds of meat and blubber distributed among several villages.
Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it appears to have been an unauthorized harvest of a gray whale — a species that is off-limits to hunting in Alaska, even by Natives.
Reference source: UC news
Emeks Empire