THE WHALING INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20113, 26 November 1928, Page 6

THE WHALING INDUSTRY.

THE FUTURE'S ONLY HOPE. DISCOVERY OF NEW GROUNDS POSSIBILITIES OF ANTARCTIC. VIEWS OF PRACTICAL MEN.

BY I.ONKHANDER.

No. 111. is too lato now to enter into competition with the Norwegian in Antarctic whaling unless new grounds nre opened up, and then it will bo a case nf Iho lirst man in. There is 110 other kind of mercantile enterprise in which it is so necessary to seizo time by the forelock and get in first. History has proved this beyond all doubt.

The bomb harpoon is not a new invention, for as far back as 1885 Norway had a fleet of 30 vessels provided with harpoon-guns engaged in whaling off the coast of Finmark. During that year the catch was 1400 whales, tho following year only 954 were captured, and soon tho whales became scarce and new grounds were sought, found, and quickly cleared. 'All was fish that came to the Norwegian net, blue, black, and even tho small ■white whalo went down before tho har-poon-gun, until the North Atlantic has been pretty well cleared of whales. Iho Antarctic seas will bo served tho same. Mass Destruction. According to tho Statesman's year book tho oil exported from tho South Shetland:, ill 0110 year was 799,212 barrels, worth, approximately, £4,200,000. Hie bulk of this oil was provided by tho bluo whale, ;v species tho old-timers called tho sulphur bottom. This whalo is the giant of tho Norqiials. A specimen of this species was taken in tho Koss Sea that measured 125tt. in length and yielded 175 barrels of oil, worth £IO7O. Probably , this will bo found tho record length tor any whalo. Iho longest sperm whalo I know of measured 84it. in length. Iho right whale, of which there are four kinds, is a short whalo rarely exceeding 60ft. in length. The humpback is a shorter whale still, and 50ft. is considered h fair length for a full-grown whale. The smaller whales, such as killers, giampuses, porpoises, are all taken nowadays. The skin of tho white whale is what is known as porpoise hide. In catching tho small whales sometimes big hauls are made. On onu occasion 300, out of a school of about 900, were taken in one day. This might rightly be called mass destruction. Is it any wonder, therefoie, that the whales are becoming scarce? Value of the Whaling Gun.

The monopoly of the whaling business now held l>y tho Norwegians is clue entirely to tho way they have made use of tho whaling gun invented by themselves. Tho harpoon-gun inaugurated what is called tho fin-whale fishery and this onterptising people have pushed the business to the limit, but the end is in sight—that is the end of big catches such as those made in the Ross Sea last season when the C. A. Larsen s cargo alone realised .U600.00U. The Ross Sea, which is now the chief point of interest for the whaler, is the only part of Antarctica that this country need concern itself about so far as the supply of whales fo • New Zealand shore whalers is concerned. It is my opinion that the Moss Sea is tho "home port" of the whales, which annually pass along the New Zealand coasts. I say this from ideas formed after many years' study of the humpback whale, not from shore stations alone, but on tho open sea over thousands of miles of longitude. Probably when an efficient method of branding tho whales is discovered, research will bo able to tell us something more definite than is vet known •of the habits of the whale. in observation is advanced by scientists as the reason why more is not known of the habits of tho world's greatest mammal. This is true, for the whale is a hard subject on which to prove anything while it is alive. One thing we can safely say of the whale is that it has been a great aid to civilisation, especially in the Pacific. Many* places were brought prominently to tho world's notice by the whaler. "Places far from the ordinary trade routes were visited by whale-ships whose reports started the trader and the missionary and all that followed them. Whaler as Pioneer. Since very early times the whaler has followed closely on the heels of the explorer, and tho sumo holds good to-day, and will continue to do so until all the world's seas are charted, and this promises to bo soon. The flying men and the big steam whalers will soon find out what the .Antarctic coast is like, and if my idea that tho whale makes little difference of longitude when migrating is correct, then several more places similar to tho Ross Sea will bo discovered. The whales that visit the coast of Africa must have a "homo port" south of that continent. Naturally, with a subject like the whale, a lot has to bo taken for granted, but generally speaking there is too much of this. As an instance, I will mention one of many cases I know from personal experience. One day at Whangamumu we had the nets down and a whale came along and spouted a few fathoms away from the not, a lid then disappeared, apparently diving right into tho trap. A few seconds later it broke water a short distance away on the other side of tho net. Circumstantial evidence said plainly that the whale must either have gone through or under tho net, but we were satisfied a while later that it was riot so. 'lhe whale, while under water, turned and went outside the net. This was not thought possible when ono considered its weight and momentum, but a few days afterwards we hail ocular demonstration that it was possible for a whale to come along at the rate of six miles per hour and suddenly stop and turn. Tho second whale was less than a fathom below the surface when it came to the net, therefore, plainly in sight of the men on the look out above, and they were all satisfied that six feet is ample space for a whale going at the ordinary gait to stop and inverse its direction. as this one did. "I here are many instances'where close investigation has disproved much that has been said of the whale, but these may be left for tho present.