2615 WHALES CAUGHT

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25179, 9 May 1947, Page 7

2615 WHALES CAUGHT

~ BRITISH EXPEDITION TO ANTARCTIC (Special Correspondent N.Z.PA.) LONDON, May 8. Writing in “The Times,” Wing. Commander John Grierson, who is in charge of the aircraft attached to the British whaling expedition now on its way home from Antarctica, says the British factory ship Balaena caught more whales and obtained more edible oil than any of the other 14 factory ship* employed in the Antarctic during the recent whaling season. Altogether the British expedition caught 2615 whales, which produced 185,000 barrels of sperm oil in addition to a large quantity of by-product*. This yield was 70,000 barrels of oil more than was expected. Discussing the usefulness of aircraft for whale spotting, Wing Commander Grierson says the season unfortunately did not constitute a sufficiently exacting test. The whales were so plentiful that the aircraft were not really required. Nevertheless, experience showed that there were many advantages to be gained from the use of aircraft, particularly if whales were scarce.

The crews of the two Walrus amphibians operating from the Balaena found it easy to spot whales from the air and observed their movements to a considerable depth. On locating whales, the air crews would drop various types of smoke signal to guide the whaleboats to the kill. In addition the airmen were able to collect much useful meteorological and other data and undoubtedly acted as additional protection tor the ship.