Went out to Montague Island in PWS over the weekend looking for deer. Didn't see any but did score this nice whale skull on the beach. Just did fit in the Pacer and figure it weighs 150 lbs (+/-).
tried to attach the pictures in the post but it wouldn't take. The photos are in the gallery.

Mike J

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[img]http://www.backcountrypilot.org/gallery/albums/userpics/12078/normal_IMG_0763.JPG[/img]

Hey Mike J, that's cool. Found one similar a couple of years ago by Lituya. Being in the National Park, we weren't brave enough to load it up. Got some neat pictures of my son sitting on it, though.

Are there any deer left up that way? Here around the ABC's, it's pretty slim. Fish and Game figures something like a 90 percent winter kill from last year. Global warming, I guess.

gb

Pretty cool! That's gotta be about the world's biggest soup bone, eh?
What's the legal situation on taking something like that home? Here in Washington, I think it's against the law to take/keep anything like that. Of course, on the flip side, if you own waterfront property & a dead whale washes up on your beach, don't try getting the guv'mint to haul it away for you. "That's the property owner's problem" is the official line then.
Double-talkin' bastids......

Eric

Uh, I'd have a chat with the USForest Service and National Marine Fisheries Service about that before posting it on the internet.

Possession of Marine Mammal parts is strictly regulated by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and Montague is NF land, which can be double trouble.

I don't know what NMFS policy is on this, nor USFS on picking things up on the beaches.

USFWS governs walrus and sea otters, NMFS does whales, porpoise, seals, sea lions.

Give em a call. There is probably a beach found provision in the regs, but those almost always require registration.

MTV

You'll need to pay the appropriate taxes on your dead whale. Whatever you do, don't fly it into Maine.

I hope this does not aply to road kill. I have a friend in Reno with a Maule that could be in big trouble.

Tim

We called it in to the National Marine Division here in Anchorage. They said to bring it in and they will determine if it is endangered, protected, etc. If is isn't, they will issue a certificate to us and we can keep it. Probably should have mentioned that in my original post.