Whaling captain sentenced after killing polar bear

A judge has sentenced an Alaska whaling captain to three months in federal prison, a year of parole and a $4,500 fine after he fatally shot a polar bear and left the carcass to waste in his yard. Anchorage Daily News reported that 36-year-old Christopher Gordon pleaded guilty in December to shooting the bear and leaving its body for months at his home. Authorities say Gordon is Alaska Native and is allowed to hunt polar bear and bowhead whale under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, but is only permitted to hunt for subsistence. The judge says Gordon had numerous opportunities to use portions of the bear, but did not.