“Certain whaling captains may be able to deduct expenses paid in 2005 for Native Alaskan subsistence bowhead whale hunting activities. See Pub. 526 for details.”

—2005 Form 1040 Instructions at A-6.

Setting aside the question of why this is in the tax code in the first place—are there so few voters in Alaska that somebody thought he had to pander to whaling captains, and not even all whaling captains, just certain whaling captains?—I’d like to know how it actually ended up in the instruction book as a helpful tip specially chosen to be mentioned there. I suspect an IRS worker with a sense of humor. There have to be some.

Here’s the bill that created the deduction, in case that’s useful to you. Pub. L. 108-357, § 335 (PDF).