Posted on 09/02/2010 11:01:27 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Delray man in custody after hacking tail off for food
A Delray Beach man is in custody after he reportedly tried to cut the tail off a whale that washed ashore early Thursday morning.
Florida Fish and Wildlife agents are questioning James Hogan after he was found hacking away at the tail end of the whale, estimated to be between 10 and 12 feet long, according to the Palm Beach Post.
"I didn't know it was illegal," Hogan told the Post, before he was hauled away. Hogan said he was fishing early Thursday morning when a passerby told him about the washed-up whale.
He said he started cutting off the tail so he could eat it.
"I apologize to the state of Florida," Hogan told the FWC agents as he was hauled off. "I pay my taxes and I didn't know it was illegal. I do now."
Shouldn’t be illegal.
Cut him some slack, what guy doesn’t want a piece of tail now and again.
Well, haven’t we all made that mistake? I mean under English common law whales that wash ashore are the King’s property, but really I’m clueless about American law on the subject.
“I didn’t know it was illegal” .
He’s lucky the cops took him away. Before the whale-hugging PETA doofuses got to him.
Did I just miss that or is journalism really that piss-poor these days?
Well, was the whale alive or dead at the time? Seems a pretty important point, but the story doesn’t say.
We should be allowed to hack up a dead whale and eat it — that’s recycling. Hacking a live whale’s tail off, on the other hand, seems a bit extreme.
Exactly what law did he violate?
Washed up whale in Florida? Is that why Rosie has a big bandage on her leg in recent pictures?
Well, that’s whale of a tail, young man!
It could be worse. He could have stepped on a turtle egg. I think that’s a capital offense in Fla. these days.
The link to the PalmBeac Post, in the NBC article, states that the whale was dead.
why would it be illegal to cut up a dead fish?
George: I got about fifty-feet out and then suddenly the great beast
appeared before me. I tell ya he was ten stories high if he was a
foot. As if sensing my presence he gave out a big bellow. I said,
“Easy big fella!” And then as I watched him struggling I realized
something was obstructing his breathing. From where I was standing
I could see directly into the eye of the great fish!
Jerry: Mammal.
George: Whatever.
Ewe! I’d expect the tail to be like pig’s feet. I would have been mining for the fillet.
Was the Whale alive? Must have been...or do we have to be careful of all washed ashore dead or alive sea life, like jelly fish, etc. Lordy?
Maybe beached whales are considered the state’s property, so cutting its tail off would be theft from the state? I can’t think of any other reason this would be illegal.
But, really, arresting the guy? That’s a bit much. I’d hardly consider him a dangerous crook for making a mistake any beachcomber could make.
I was expecting the whale to still be alive, since cutting off the tail of a dead whate didn’t seem newsworthy to me.
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