As of press time, the Makah Nation has not followed through on their plans to hunt and kill a gray whale off the coast of Washington State. Stormy winter waters have driven off protest boats for the season, and certainly should prevent any Makah canoes from travelling to the open ocean. Recent reports however have indicated that Makahs may be considering placing their canoe in a large commercial vessel, and taking the canoe and its crew out to sea before releasing them near a whale.

The Makah Whaling Commission recently selected Wayne Johnson to replace Eric Johnson (no direct relationship), as head of the whaling crew. Wayne Johnson has been prominent in local media because he is almost always pictured holding the .50 calibre gun that he plans to use to kill a gray whale.

An extensive section of the PAWS web site is devoted to the proposed whale hunt. Background information, updates, maps, and other resources can be found on the Gray Whale section of the web site. To visit it, go to the PAWS site at www.paws.org, and then visit the “campaigns” section of the “advocacy” pages.

The last issue of PAWS News, featuring many articles about the Makah controversy, is also available on-line.