MODERN WHALING

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19941, 30 May 1930, Page 8

MODERN WHALING

HOW LONG WILL THE WHALES LAST''

,SI<KU.U..VV WRITTEN FOIL THE PRESS.i [By Erltko Aauaakd. i 11. With the enormous increase in the world's production of whale oil, especially during the last decade, there is one question of vital importance cropping up; the question of the permanence or' the whaling fields. In 1020 tho total output was 430,000 Uriels, but already in J026 this figure had risen to 1,070,000 barrels. The final results of last season's activities are not yet to be had; but so far it is fctated that the result cf tho present year's first quarter is about 1,600,000 "barrels—a tremendous figure—which will undoubtedly increase a good deal. A Reorganised Industry. In the first place, this increase is due to tho entire reorganisation of the whaling industry which has taken place during the last few yoars: the step from land stations to pelagic—or open sea—whaling. The working radius of a land station will always be limited to a certain distance away from the station. The small chasers are not able to carry bunkers and stores for a very long time, and they have to tow tho dead whales back to the station within a reasonable time. Otherwise decav will very quickly set in, and to a considerable extent reduce the value of the whales. A dead whale lying in the water will start to rot in a day's time, and swell up till it looks like a balloon, owing to the gases developed by the Ulterior decomposition. Such a whale will yield an inferior grade of oil, and on account of the terrible odour It is exceedingly unpleasant to work with. The main tHing to be considered by the whalers is, therefore to obtain as fresh raw materials n* possible, and this question is not satisfactorily solved bv land stations. As long as they can find the whales within a reasonable dis tance from the station it is all right; but when the whale food drifts along wjtb the currents, and the whales fol low, the chasers often have to travel considerable distances, and a certain decay of tho raw material is often rendered inevitable. Besides, the running expenses of a station are considerably increased by long steaming in search of whales.

Pelagic Whaling. To avoid these difficulties the idea of pelagic whaling was conceived, and it seems to solve the problem in an excellent manner. A tanker which, at the came time carries a complete whaletoil factory, and is independent of a shore base, is able to follow the wanderings of the whale food, ami consequently also the whales.

Its chasers can trail a whale aud kill it practically alongside the mother-ship, or anyway only a short distance from it, and this system enables a steady supply of absolutely fresh raw materials. And if the whales should leave one place and proceed to another the factories are not rendered helpless, but can follow the whales, so they arc practically always able tc keep their factory plant running. Needless to say. a development like that would give tho industry a great push forward, and, during recent years, a wonderful improvement of the technical appointments has done its part as woll. Tho old factory -hips always had to flense their whales (strip off the blubber) in the water alongside, whereas a modern ship is able to pull tho whole huge carcase up on deck, and deal with it there, which makes the work go quicker, and simultane6usly the oil-pro-ducing capacity of tho factory plants has been increased.

At the same time not only tho motherships have benefited by the development, but also the chasers, which to-day have almost reached the top of efficiency. Are Whales Being Exterminated? This is in short the reason for the stupendous rise in the last decade's production. Now to the other side of the question—are the whales faced-with immediate extermination? So far there have been no reasons for fearing a total extermination Experts have viewed the question from practically all angles, and arrived at the conclusion that there is no danger yet. As will be kijpwn, the Antarctic has un enormous extent, and only a fringe of tho vast whaling resources of the Southern Seas has been touched yet. The Best to Come. Until the last few years whaling operations, in the Antarctic have beep conducted only in the waters round South Georgia and South Shetland, and iu the Ross Sea, and between theso grounds vast stretches of -equally good whaling fields are to be found; but so far it has not been found necessary to operate in them. However, theso stretches have boen thoroughly explored by scientific expeditions, and they all agree that there are unlimited quantities uf commercial whales. Therefore, so far, we fhould only be standing on the threshold of an immense development. And the fields which have been utilised seem to prove the same. There are grounds round South Georgia which have been taxed steadily and progressively for a quarter of a century, and yet they can today show up record results. The same can be said about the Eoss Sea area, which was opened for whaling operations in 1933 by Captain C. A. Larsen with the factory ship Sir James Clark Ross- His first yoar's haul down there was 18,000 barrels of oil, and laet yoar's production of five factory ships shows a result of about 340,000 barrels, or an average of aoarly 'i o,ooo barrels each, in spite of tho fact that the conditions this time were exceedingly difficult, as the Ross Sea itself could not be touched at ail owing to the exceptionally heavy pack-ice. The activity of the factory ships was thus confined to the edgo of the icebelt, which is, under normal conditions, only used during the first part of the season.

Not Long-Llvwl Creatures.

Whales are generally considered, like other huge animals, as, for instance, elephants, to attain a very high age and to be very slow breeders. If this had been the case they would certainlv have been exterminated many years ago. ' •

Of course, comparatively little is known about them yet, as their size more or lees prohibits studios of the live animal; but they are not supposed to live more than about Bfteeu years at the most, and they breed regularly every year, or every second year. The young whale reaches full maturity at the age of one year, and is from that age able to carry on the broed. As a rule, cow whales give birth to only one young one at a time, but twin births, or even triplets, are no rarities, and as a curiosity it may be mentioned that a whale cow containing nine young was killed some years ago Bfc South Georgia.

Killing Bestrictlons. in nrder to protect them in the breeding time the Norwegian Whaling Act is very strict. A whale cow accompanied by a young one mutt never be killed, and a guuuor who shoots blue whalea less than 45 feet long is liable to prosecution. If by accident a whale of less than that size is killed nobody will receive a bonus on the oil extracted from it, and stalking of these yonng whales is therefore as a rule successfully- avoided. Further, the law says that every part of a dead whale must be utilised, with the single exception of the entrails and the flesh on the middle part of the backbone. But if whales are scarce even this flesh, which is of a poor quality, is used. The law is maintained by official inspectors on board the factory ships. Even the residue in the boilers after the oil has been extracted is now in many places ground to guano, as a by-product, und several of the modorn factory ships are having guano plants installed. A Universal Law, Not only in the Antarctic, but everywhere else where Norwegian whaling enterprise is conducted, this law is observed, as the protection of the young ones is an esential factor in the preservation of tho breed. Moreover, the fin whales protect themselves to a great extent, as they are very swift in the water, and often hard for a chaser to follow. The old Greonlund whales and similar breeds, which were the objects of the first whaling in the Northern Hemisphere round Spitzbergen, are now extinct, as, owing to their tremendous coat of fat they were so slow and clumsy in the water that tb*v could be successchased from rowing boats, and killed with hand harpoons and spears Consequently the killing of these whales was so easy that it led to the ruination of the wholp breed. Tin WhaleS Saved by Spood. But the same is far from the case with the fin whale group. Their blubber is considerably thinner, and their shape is slim and elegant, indicative of groat speed in the water, and their strength is enormous, so they can endure a long chase without giviug in. If the food is in bad supply they are very shy and cautious, and it requires great cunning on the part of ♦he gunner to run them down, and often they are able to out-distance the chaser altogether. Groundless Anxiety.

The tear which has been cherished in New Zealand and Australia of a total extermination of the Antarctic whales must therefore be considered as altogether groundless, and many of the men who have dealt with the question in the papers lack the knowledge and experience which would qualify them to write about it.

There is no reason why the Antarctic whaling grounds should not offer the same opportunities in the future as they have done in the past, and if they are carefully and consicentiously looked after we have here a permanent and reliable source of wealth which it will be hard to disregard.

There is, further, no reason why New Zealand and Australia should not have a "whaek of it," and it is up to the New Zealanders and Australians them' selves to give their own enterprise the support it deserves, instead of trying to stop the Norwegians, and doing nothing in the direction of looking after their Own intereats.