HARPOONS RECOVERED

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 75, 26 September 1932, Page 6

HARPOONS RECOVERED

WHALES THAT GOT AWAY

Two 'portions of whaling harpoons with interesting histories were acquired for the"- ■Auckland War Memorial Museum by iir. R. A. Falla and Mr. A.W. Powell, members of the staff of I the institution, from Mr. Joseph Perano, of To Awaite, when they recently j visited the Tory Channel whaling sta- j tion in the British research vessel Discovery 11. The fragments are parts of harpoons fired at whales 15 or'lß years ago in one instance, and seven years ago in the other, states "The Herald." One fragment is the hinged striking portion of a harpoon of a typo formerly used by Mr. Perano, who informed the investigators that ho had used only two specimens of the kind, the time being either 15 or 18 years ago. Tho head is over a foot long. When the iron fragment was recently recovered from a hump-back' whale, it was embodied in blubber and. was not rusted.

The" other harpoon fragment is a flange of a type invented by Mr. Perano. Only one harpoon of the kind was lost, tho occasion being seven years ago, and there is no doubt about the belief that tho portion is of tho original harpoon. - • - It is considered that both portions servo as proof of the annual migration of • tho; hump-back species through Cook I Strait. The specimens, which are well preserved, have aroused considerable interest among the museum authorities.

The- recovery of the fragment is regai'dod as boing of great importance in determining where the hump-back whalo found off the Marlborough Sounds travels...' During the early winter in the Antarctic, it is believed, it travels up the east coast of tho South Island, passes through Cook Strait, and proceeds up the west coast of the North Island to;iwarm, waters about the lati-

tudc of Norfolk Island. A conservative estimate- places, tho <longth of tho annual return journey at 4000 miles.