MODERN WHALING

Evening Star, Issue 18070, 11 September 1922, Page 7

MODERN WHALING

THE OLD THRILL GONE.

WEAPONS OP PRECISION.. Gone are the excitements Bullen recorded in 1 Tho Cruise of the Cachelot.’ A writer in the Auckland Herald gives some particulars of the modem industry. There is practically no chance nowadays of an infuriated whale smashing a boat by blows of its enormous flukes, or, as tho history of tho industry records, ferociously ramming a fullrigged ship and 'sending it to tho bottom. Modern ingenuity has robbed the chase of whales of the worst of its former perils under more primitive conditions. Tho whale lias now to compete with the tactics and weapons of precision. The typical whaler nowadays is a compact steel screw steamer hok the jackal tug-boats of the Thames. It is well found in every way, and has ample gear for tho sure and comparatively safe capture of tho cetacea. Ninety years ago, and even much earlier in tho history of whaling in the wide waters off tho New Zealand coast, schooners of from fifty to seventy tons sailed out of crude harbors in search of tho real fighting whales,' and won some notable prizes. One of the earliest records mentions a clear return of £I,OOO a month for a season of five months. That was big money in those days. It has to bo noted, however, that in tho palmy days of New Zealand'whalers the “ grounds ” were more plentiful in mammoth specimens than are to be found near land to-day. Is there anything in the theory of one prominent naturalist that the replacement of the old sailers by steam screw vessels is responsible for tho decreasing catches? It is said that the revolving screws give notice to tho sensitive hearing of the whales that enemies are at hand, with tho result that the prospective prey of the whaler immediately seeks haunts where lies a greater measure of safety. LAUNCHING THE HARPOON. The modern whaler everywhere is equipped on the lines of the Norwegian method for hunting the Greenland whale, whoso huge mouth alone contains a small fortune in its.6oo plates or strips of baleen, popularly known as whalebone, and its tonguo of fat, nearly two tons in weight. In the bows of the whaling steamer there is mounted a cannon designed to fire a strong harpoon. To tho harpoon is attached a stout lino several hundred feet in length. In addition, there is different gear for facilitating the runout of the line when necessary. When the vessel comes up to the whale the _ gun is fired, and the harpoon buries itself in the quivering monster. With rare exceptions, a good strike means certain capture. The subsequent test of strength is one between the maddened whale and modern machinery coolly manipulated by expert whalers. The strain is terrific, but even a modern liner yields to the pull of a tug. Presently the stricken whale becomes an island of palpitating flesh. A powerful windlass is put into operation, and tho immense carcass is towed off to a shore station, where the blubber is rendered into oil.

HUMPBACKS AT CAPE BRETT. Such is the method of capturing the Greenland and the southern right whale, which structurally are identical, tho principal difference being that whereas tho latter frequently is found' in temperate waters tho Greenland whale is never seen beyond the Polar seas. Its habitat during the long Arctic winter when the seas are locked under ice is a mystery. Thq same method of harpooning is practised at Capo Brett whaling station, where tho whaler Hananui 11., which left Auckland recently to begin tho summer season, captured twonty-ono humpback whales since May last. The range of the operations there is comparatively limited, and humpbacks only as a rule are captured and towed to Whangamumu, five miles south of Capo Brett. So far this year nob a single right whale has been sighted. One was caught by tho Hananui’s crew lastyear. THE YIELDS OF OIL. The humpback whale is much smaller than the right whale, but as tho schools tliroughoutTthe seas of all latitudes between the two frozen oceans are sometimes fairly numerous, a good haul is more probable than can ho usually expected in the case of right whales. The humpback attains a length of from 45ft to 50ft, but usually yields only a moderate amount of ofl, often only ten barrels, though sometimes an extra blubbered specimen furnishes many times that quantity. Thus short excursions that result in the capture of a number of humpbacks may prove more profitable than a prolonged voyage in search of a right whale rich in potential oil and baleen, which at times, according to official records in Britaip, has fetched £2,000 a ton. Ambergris is rarely a feature of a cargo from New Zealand whaling stations. It is tho product of the cachalot, or sperm whale, and comes from the whale’s bile, sometimes being ejected in masses of 501 b, and oven 1001 b weight. It is often more valuable than gold. All the humpback whales sighted off Cape Brett aro not captured. There have been occasions when schools have passed while stormy weather prevented whaling operations.

FIRST WHALING IN NEW ZEALAND. New Zealand has been associated with whaling since 1794. It was not until 1830, however, that yields of the industry wore first recorded. The first cargo of whale oil on record frorn New Zealand was taken to Sydney on February 3, 1830, by a small schooner of sixty-six tons. The quantity of oil was two tons, and the cargo also included 1,185 sealskins. Tho summer season for whaling in New Zealand waters ends in November, tho whaling business, like gold mining, has lost much of its old-timo romance and rare adventures, hut it is not yet played out by a long way._ It has boon said that the southern right whale is increasing in numbers, and that there are many thousands of square miles of silent seas far from the tracks of ocean-going steamers, where immense herds of whales await the enterprising hunter.