Antarctic Whaling

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 152, 30 June 1939, Page 5

Antarctic Whaling

INTENSE ACTIVITY REPORTED While the whaling fleets of five nations aro occupied in the Antarctic a small army of scientists is busy day* and night collecting a mass of material which will be submitted at the next international whaling conference. Tho work of these men, who aro stationed in factory ships, was describod recently by Dr. N. Peters, of the Hamburg University, to the Johannesburg Star. He is employed as a “ whale inspector” by the German Government, and arrived recent in Cape Town in the tanker Leiesten. Dr. Peters went south in the German refinery Unitas. A biologist was stationed in every Germany factory, he said. Their work was to try to determine the ages of whales caught, the effect of whaling on the entire stock, and several other important data.

11 This work is made rather diffici / because the 35 factories, which have 275 catchers, are operating in four districts. They are the Ross Sea, Weddell Sea, Bouvet district and the Kerguelan district. We will only be able to form a general opinion when all the data has been collected.

“It is interesting and difficult to determine the age of a whale,” said Dr. Peters. “One method is to examine the spine and the other, in the case of females, is to inspect the corpora lutea from which can be judged how many whales the specimen has given birth to.

“It seems as if the stock of whales is gradualy diminishing, though conditions might be different in other districts.’’

Sperm whales, he said, were plentiful and in good condition. The Unitas has accounted for over 100. Restrictions had been jilaced on the hunting of humpback whales this season. Blue whales wero not as plentiful as last season, but the Unitas expedition had been comparatively successful. Tho Leiesten took out supplies of fuel oil to the Unitas expedition and is carrying whalo oil back to Europe.