† The US Attorney is empowered under law to charge directly for misdemeanors, as is common in misdemeanors such as the charges from last year's interference by activists. However, when serious felony charges are contemplated, a Grand Jury is often asked to hand down indictments. It actually creates a more just system, where there is peer-review of the evidence prior to indictment, so that charges are not simply brought at the sole discretion of the prosecution. Moss' complaints indicate his ignorance of the legal system despite his willingness to thumb his nose at it through his actions.FROM WORLD WHALE POLICE
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ANTI-WHALING CAMPAIGN, MAKAH GRAY WHALE HUNT
SPRING, 2000
The World Whale Police had been on patrol since March 31st until the United States Coast Guard rammed and destroyed our vessel Tiger on April 17, 2000. On the rare occasion we were unable to venture onto the water due to severe weather conditions, we patrolled by land to assess the status of the canoes, Coast Guard vessels and the NMFS observation boat.
On the morning of April 17th, as we approached what is referred to as the 'gap', which is the pass between Tatoosh Island and Cape Flattery, we came upon the alternate Makah whaling canoe. It was being towed toward the hunting waters by a Makah trawler, with 8 crew aboard and a harpoon visible in the bow. It was obvious that this would be the first day of gray whale hunting this year. We went on full alert, and called over the VHF radio (as our cell phone did not get signal) for any individuals on the reservation who are concerned about whales being killed to call the media immediately and alert them that the hunt had begun.
We stayed with the canoe and monitored its activity, and proceeded in our traditional non-violent, non-confrontational manner as we have since the beginning of the gray whale hunt. They continued to tow the canoe and crew about Makah Bay, the northern area of the hunting water. At this point we observed the large coast guard boat ‘Osprey’ and a Coast Guard helicopter monitoring the scene from above. While watching the Coast Guard helicopter, we observed it moving from our location due south, past the Point of Arches. Since there was no flag on this canoe and no orange CoastGuard hard shell safe boats present, we suspected that there may be other hunting activity below Point of Arches.
We proceeded south towards the Point of Arches to investigate. The visibility was poor due to fog. As we moved around the reef off of Point of Arches we immediately found ourselves being assaulted by the Coast Guard safe boats and saw some activity off in the distance. Before we could assess what the activity in the distance was, the Coast Guard boats began to drive erratically back and forth in front of us, causing an unsafe situation on the water. Captain Bill Moss managed to avoid collision with these boats on numerous occasions. One of the boats rammed us at a right angle on the port side. Their boat landed on top of ‘Tiger,’ collapsing the roof and injuring co-pilot Julie Woodyer. Moss put the boat in neutral and had words with the Coast Guard crew that had just hit us. He indicated that he had injured crew and that there was damage to the boat. When the Coast Guard refused to stand off while we assessed the damage, it became evident to us that our lives were in jeopardy and we began to move to a safe place to assess the damage.
As we moved off we were rammed again by a 41' Coast Guard boat that damaged the hull and knocked the co-pilot seat loose as well as breaking windows in the boat, causing further injury to Julie. It became evident that they would kill us to stop ‘Tiger.’ We never did see the canoe with the flag that would be the center point of the Moving Exclusionary Zone (MEZ). Bill was arrested, while Julie was removed on a medical basket used in medical emergencies. We were taken back to the Neah Bay Coast Guard station. Bill was then taken to Clallam County jail and charged with willfully and knowingly entering the Moving Exclusionary Zone (MEZ), and Julie was taken back to Sekiu by a Clallam County sheriff deputy. Julie was treated at Olympic Memorial Hospital in Port Angeles for head and back injuries later that day. ‘Tiger’ was towed back to Neah Bay and subsequently to the Coast Guard station in Port Angeles, where is is being held as evidence.
Bill was released the following day with restrictions, including not entering the Makah reservation and not entering the MEZ. But the story does not end here.
Bill was scheduled to appear in federal court in Tacoma on April 28th for a pre-trial hearing to determine if there was enough evidence to indict him. In order to bypass the pre-trial, where evidence would have been provided on both sides, the US government opted to call a grand jury on April 27th to indict Bill.† As a result of this, Bill's lawyer was not able to rebut any of the statements made in the charges. Instead Bill was forced to move straight to a plea. NOT GUILTY, of course.
And still the story doesn't end.
There are rumors that the World Whale Police may be back on the water soon. Go figure!
We will continue our efforts to keep whales from being killed. We are in desperate need of funds for equipment, fuel, medical, air touch cell phone (the only one we can get signal on off shore), video equipment (ours was broken in the collision), legal expertise and a computer. If you can help us in any way, we would very grateful.
You can reach us here is Sekiu until the end of the hunting season (approx. May 31) at:
Telephone: (360) 963-0717
Cell phone: (360) 561-7492
Mailing address: P.O. Box 94
Sekiu, WA 98381
E-mail: worldwhalepolice@hotmail.com*
Special thanks to all of you who have helped us out with fuel and food donations as well as our good friends at Ocean Defense International who are currently on patrol daily protecting the whales. And an extra special thanks to all those on the reservation who called the media out of concerns for the whales.**
Bill & Julie