Lee Metcalf: “a multimillion dollar industry is in Washington State, California, Oregon, and British Columbia. It is the whale…”

“a multimillion dollar industry is in Washington State, California, Oregon, and British Columbia. It is the whale watching industry. Whales are used to boats out there and they do not mind getting close to the boats. In fact, sometimes they will even rub against the boat. This industry is about to be put in jeopardy. The International Whaling Commission meets this year, within the next month or so, and they are prepared to authorize one tribe in Washington and several in Canada to renew commercial whaling. When they start that, these are very intelligent animals. As soon as we begin killing whales, the blood in the water, those animals will become very skiddish. We will not get a boat within a mile of them. This multimillion dollar industry is about to be put in jeopardy for no good reason in the world. Once we allow the tribes to do it, then the Norwegians and Japanese, who also have a historic record of capturing whales, will be able to do whaling nationwide. But I am concerned about the whale watching industry in Washington State and the Pacific coast.”