Nicholas Kristof equates the hunting of whales by Eskimos with the whaling habits of Japanese, Norwegians, and Icelanders. The harsh environment of the Inupiat [Eskimos] dictates their diet, so not even the most rabid antiwhaling activist can deny their inalienable right to survive. The Japanese and the European whale hunting countries can choose the food they consume; they have no need to eat whales. It is not hypocritical to give a pass to the relatively primitive society of the Inupiat to hunt a strictly controlled number of whales for survival while chastising the modern societies that continue to hunt these magnificent mammals for no good reason.