NOAA Supports Indigenous Tribe's Whale Hunt Request. Some Environmentalists Don't

NPR

Published April 8, 2019 at 12:25 PM EDT

A gray whale shows its massive tail fluke while diving on March 13, 2015, in Possession Sound, near Everett, Wash. (Elaine Thompson/AP)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is backing an indigenous tribe’s request to resume whale hunting rights off Washington state’s northwest coast. The Makah tribe has a long-running tradition of whaling for cultural and spiritual reasons.

Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd speaks with D.J. Schubert, a wildlife biologist for the Animal Welfare Institute, about why animal activists are opposed to the practice.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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NOAA Supports Indigenous Tribe's Whale Hunt Request. Some Environmentalists Don't

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