HARRIED WHALE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 3278, 12 March 1931, Page 3

HARRIED WHALE

DISAPPEARING MAMMAL. SCIENTIFIC MEN PERTURBED. Science has become concerned for the safety of the whale. The greatest animal that swims is being- hunted so relentlessly that men of science have been called upon to make a full study of the deep sea mammals to learn of their habits and ways of living- in the hope that some means of protection may be afforded this valuable creature.

When science begins a study, every side of the subject is thoroughly examined. The Cax-negie Institution of Washing-ton has been digging up the remains of ancient whales in order to learn something of their history and their past, when the world was young. Dr. Remington Kellogg, in charge of this interesting branch of science, has become one of the world’s authorities on the whale.

As everyone knows the whale is really an animal. It breathes air direct and whales suckle their young. The whale’s blood is warm and nearly of the same temperature as that of a man. Even its ability to swim seems to come in a way that is similar to the ability of a land animal that has learned to adapt itself to the water.

The value of the whale lies in the fat that serves to keep him warm in swimming about in the cold water. And because this faW and oil is of a very high quality and can only be had in the capturing of the giant monster, the whale swims about with a price on his head.

SPOTTED BY AEROPLANES. When a creature becomes valuable every method of hunting that will bring success is resorted to, hence recently aeroplanes have been used to discover the whale and signal to the fast motor ships to bring their guns to action. In the North Pacific aeroplanes soar for hundreds of miles along the coast-line hunting for the great black animals of the deep. When they sight them they either signal to the ship or fly back to give the location of the whales where last seen.

To-day the whaling industry, like the meat industry, has come to utilise nearly every part of their capture. On the dinner tables of Far Eastern merchants, when company is to be more especially honoured, salted whale tails are served, the pliable whalebone is used in scores of fashionable ways. Many delicate soaps and other toilet articles are based largely on the oil of the whale. Hard-fibred brushes to sweep obstinate corners of the home get the raw material from the leaping plunging animal of the sea. Hunting the whale is still a great sport. Although the aeroplane and the harpoon gun with its time fuse have reduced the whale’s chances to a bare minimum, there yet remains a thrill for the fishermen who seek to play with the great whale. Science has been learning many interesting facts regarding the whale wliich are all being catalogued and will one day be the basis of some new whaling industry that will seek to give protection and perhaps lay out breeding grounds for these ocean giants. Dr. Kellogg says that the whale has come to adapt himself in many ways to a life in the water. His breathing is such as to permit feeding without letting the water enter his lungs during swimming. WITHSTANDS ENORMOUS PRESSURE. The whale has strange eyes and they are quite immovable, eyeballs with no eyelashes, no supporting cartilage or lubricating glands in the lids. Yet the whale can see especially well beneath the water, where the light is weak. The blue whale is said to carry a harpoon line down for 220 fathoms, where it has to withstand a pressure of 630 pounds to the square inch. It remains below the surface for 32 minutes. The blue nosed, beaked whale and the sperm whale are said to descend half a mile and possible a mile. Pressures at such depths are enormous, approximately 1178 pounds to the inch at half a mile, and 2349 at a mile. In these instances the whale’s eye has withstood these pressures and without apparent harm. The eye is protected by a gland that instead of keeping it moist as in land animals, keeps it covered with a fine coat of oil and thus keeps out the salt water which would otherwise irritate it.

The British Museum has also been studying’ the whale. But in order to learn enough to be able effectively to save the creature from extermination by giving- it protection it is also necessary to know more about ocean currents and meteorology as it affects whale food, the temperatures, salinity and currents of the sea. It is known that humpbacks and blue whales live largely on plankton, which is strained from the sea by the whalebone of the mouth. The composition and distribution of plankton are being studied as well.