SHOCK FOR THE WHALES

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 November 1929, Page 9

SHOCK FOR THE WHALES

CURRENT REPLACES HARPOON. Another whaleship with her fleet of chasers has arrived at Wellington to join the already large number of Norwegian parties already in the Antarctic on the same errand. In the old days it used to be mainly sperm whaling that attracted the men who hunt whales, but those monsters were so effectively hunted that they were exterminated. To-day the whalers have to go further afield, but by the way the Antractic seas are becoming crowded,. there seems every likelihood of the modem prey following his sperm brother. It is soipe years since the exciting business of harpooning whales -by hand was superseded by the harpoon invented by a Norwegian named Sven Foyn. For some years past,, how ever, Air Holm-Hansen, a Norwegian engineer, has been at work upon a plan for killing whales by electricity. His scheme has now materialised, and the invention has been fully covered by comprehensive international patents. The idea, according to“ Norway,” a periodical issued by Norwegian exporters, is to install a small electrical engine on each whaling boat. The engine will, be a low-tensibn one with a capacity of 4 to 5 h.p. The generatoi producing the alternating current wiL be of the short-circuit proof type. One electrode will, be connected up with a specially constructed conductor which will be directly connected with an entirely new type of harpoon. The othei electrode will be directly connected with the skin of the vessel. The whale will then be killed in the following way;—As soon as the whale has been sighted the electrical engine will be set going, without, however, passing any current through or into the harpoon. The harpoon-gun has been bri.il* in such a way that the moment a shot is fired, the current is immediately and automatically connected with the harpoon’, which may then be a distance of about five to ten meters from the mouth of the gun. The current is completely isolated until it reaches the head of the harpoon. If the harpoon passes through a wave or some spray on its way to the whale, this make? no difference as the generator cannot short-circuit. As soon as the point of the harpoon touches the whale, tincurrent will immediately pass through its body, and back through the con ducting sea-water to the side of the ship. A circuit will then have been established, and the whale will be seized with cramp. It has been scientifically proved that an electric shock of this kind causes cramp ; a result of this among mammals is that the air still in the lungs will be enclosed—almost hermetically enclosed—and keep the whale afloat. This is a very important point. The advantages of this method of killing whales are many. A few will be enumerated hereunder.

It will be possible to make a very considerable reduction in the number of whaleboats required in an efficient whaling fleet. This, again, means that with the same number of whaleboats as now employed, operating during the same period of time, it will be possible to employ twice as many floating factories, yielding twice the present catch. '

It ■will be possible to make use of ’ighter harpoon guns and lighter liarions, thereby increasing their effe tive range. It is believed that the new guns may also be placed amidships and higher up than at present, thereby still further increasing the range. -Under the present system, large quantities of explosives are stored on board. There is, as a consequence, a not insignificant risk of explosion. This danger disappears entirely, and each shot will cost only a fraction of what it costs under the present method of whale-hunting. Another great advantage is that the electrical method is a much more humane way of killing whales than the present one. It will also, as de scribed above, result in great economies and a much more rational operation. It is understood that a large npmber of whaling companies will equip their fleets with this apparatus preparatory to the next whaling season.