Obladi Oblada

I am the walrus, see me die--Well, you can’t. The walrus camera project, which shows live camera shots of the Walrus Island State Game Sanctuary in Alaska on the Internet, will be turned off for a few weeks while the natives do a subsistence hunt. To be fair, it is a subsistence hunt, not a bunch of guys going off to demonstrate the size of their genitals by blowing away mammals. And, also to be fair, nothing is changed. The cameras on the island have had power problems and at the moment, aren’t working anyhow. Because of the weather and lack of funding, the site would probably go down about now as well. You can go here and see for yourself. The natives are worried that the scenes of the slaughter would be going out on the net around the world and a lot of people--especially those living down the street from a Safeway--might get upset. “When you go deer hunting you don’t want a camera shining on you,” one told the AP. The cameras went on line about a month ago and the websie has had thousands of hits, sometimes so many it crashed the server. The hunt begins Friday and the beach camera will be removed tonight. The natives are allowed to take as many as 20 of the beasts. The walruses represent a major food source for the Yupik and Inupiaq communities. Bones become art objects and walrus skins provide clothing.