how about some walrus dipped in seal oil?

[cleofus1]

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/6943898p-6843075c.html


A pair of Web cameras providing Internet images of walruses basking on Round Island will be shut off this week at the request of Alaska Native leaders, who do not want viewers to see the animals shot and butchered during the traditional fall hunt.

The cameras transmit to a popular Web site where viewers normally can watch live video of Pacific walruses snoozing on a rocky beach. The site has tallied tens of thousands of hits since it went online more than a month ago, and viewer overload often caused it to crash.

But Alaska Natives fear widespread viewing of Internet images of walruses being killed with rifles on the half-mile beach could threaten the traditional subsistence hunt.

"They're certainly concerned about anything that could turn that around again and make it so they couldn't hunt out there anymore," state biologist Joe Meehan said.

[cleofus1]

1. more...

...Natives can take up to 20 walruses during the hunt, which starts Saturday and ends Oct. 20. The animals are difficult to count as they slip in and out of the water, but they are not considered endangered, threatened or depleted by federal standards, Meehan said.

Residents of nine villages near Bristol Bay are allowed to harvest Round Island walruses this season. The meat is a core food source for Alaska Natives in the area, including the coastal Yup'ik and Inupiaq communities. Walrus ivory and bone are transformed into crafts and artwork.

The hunt was banned in 1960 after the Walrus Islands were designated a wildlife sanctuary by the state. In 1995, Alaska Natives were allowed to resume hunting on the island through an agreement with the state and federal government.

The 35-year ban on access to the island for hunting "really put a hardship on our Alaska Native traditional way of life," Chythlook said...

[tjwmason]

2. I can understand why they wouldn't want that web-cast.

Seems like a reasonable compromise to me.

[cleofus1]

3. yes

i don't think that anyone wants to sea an animal that they consider "cute" cut up and eaten...

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. I think it's a sensible request.

I can definitely envision a certain segment of liberals who would utterly freak out about the hunting. Best not to let them know it's happening, so we don't have to listen to their whinging.

I wish them well on their hunt!