Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, MONDAY, DEC, 30, 1929 PITY THE WHALE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17145, 30 December 1929, Page 6

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, MONDAY, DEC, 30, 1929 PITY THE WHALE

"Whales are plentiful on the outside of the ice pack and the chasers have made good catches." This report, received- a few days ago from one of the whaling ships operating in Antarctic, waters, serves to remind us of the slaughter of leviathans that is going on to the south of New Zealand —a slaughter so extensive thai. in the minds of many qualified to judge, it must result in the almost complete extermination of the whale. New Zealand has been a port of call of several of the mother ships of the whaling fleets, and all who have inspected them have been astonished at the extent of these huge floating factories and the magnitude of the industry thy are engaged in. We read from a report of the Norwegian Exporters' Federation published a few weeks ago that Norwegian interests in this industry this year are larger than ever. New companies have boon added and the older companies have increased their fleets considerably by the addition of '"whale-boats and floating factories for whaling on a pelagic basis. A mighty armada, the report stated, lias left the coasts of Norway for operations in the Antarctic, whero it will remain for six months. The fleet consists of .190 whale-chasers, 37 floating factories, and \\7 transport vessels, with a total crew of 7000, or 2000 more than at any previous time. When it is stated that one of the floating factories, which range up to 20,000 tons register, can deal with 20 whales a day, .some idea may be obtained of the havoc that is being wrought amongst the whales in the South Polar sea. In addition to 13 Norwegian, one Argentine and two British companies are operating. In the season of 1927-28 it is calculated that 5500 whales were taken off the South Shetland islands alone, with a yield of oil showing an increase of 47 per cent, over the previous record year. When whaling was carried out under the conditions that obtained in the early days of New Zealand there could not have been much objection to it. The whalers took hazards and the great fish had at least a sporting chance. But to-day with high-powered .chasers, employing bombs, and with huge factories to be maintained on the scene of operations, the element of sport has gone and keen commercial butchery has taken its place. So important is the matter regarded that the League of Nations Economic Committee is convening a conference next year to consider measures necessary to be taken lor the protection of whales. As a matter of fact the question has been more or less continuously under investigation since 1927 and various suggestions have been discussed, including protection for cows, calves, and immature whales, and the closing of certain regions to whalers. It is becoming increasingly clear that unless steps are soon taken to limit the wholesale slaughter now going on the Antarctic seas will be cleaned up of whales as completely as the Arctic regions have been under much cruder methods than are in use to-day. The Norwegians, we are aware, dispute this assumption and declare the vast waters of the Antarctic contain so many whales that there is no fear of the industry becoming worked out. They liken their factories to little shooting boxes in an enormous forest teeming with game. Sir Douglas Mawson and other scientists do not. share this view; in fact it' ia one pi the primary objects

of the Discovery expedition, which Sir Douglas is leading in Antarctic waters at the present time, to gather knowledge which may prevent the- extermination of I lie whale. Whilst the Norwegian Government has shown an almost total lack of interest in the subject of preserving the goose that lays the golden eggs, British interests have been mainly concerned in research work with this object. In addition to tin; Discovery's previous and present expeditions the research ship William Scoresby, financed by the Government of the. Falkland Islands out of the whaling tax there, has been surveying whaling grounds and marking whales for some lime. Norway has a small boat the Norvegia, operating from Capetown, whose duty appears to be less the preservation of the whale than the finding of uncharted land on which new whaling bases can be established. It k to be hoped, however, that the enterprising Norsemen may be induced to realise the economic value of conservation, and to collaborate with the British scientists in research which must have an important bearing upon the future of the whaling industry .