WHALES AND WHALING.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 97, 7 December 1911, Page 6

WHALES AND WHALING.

TERRA NOVA SCIENTIST’S OBSERVATIONS. PROSPECTS FOR LOCAL INDUSTRY. During the recent cruise in the north of I lie Terra Nova, Mr D. (J. Lillie, biologist to Captain Scott’s Antarctic* expedition, made a thorough investigation concerning the type of whale caught near the shores ol New Zealand, and for this purpose he left die vessel at Whangamumn. Mr Lillie has for many years interested himself in whales, and by Ids recent visit in the north lie will ho able to add sonic valuable data to this branch of study, At the present time he is busy aboard the ship bottling numerous specimens of marine organisms, and during the next few weeks he will forward a large quantity of mis catches to the museum for microscopic examination. Notwithstanding pressure of work; Mr Lillie kindly gave a ‘‘Cliristchurch Press” reporter some information regarding ins work in the north. He stated that after leaving the Terra Nova lie spent a nionfn at dagger and Cook’s winding station, Whanga-.nn-mn, where lie made a special study if whales, an animal which, he remarked, lie was extremely fond oi from a biological point of "view, i lie station was not very large, but nev--01 thcless its scope of operations allowixl him to make a number of exhaustive investigations. Tlio permanent shore hands number about six all told, and they are a big, sturdy lot, principally Maoris. hhe whales were orougiit to the station by a steamer railed the Hanamii, a vessel of good Norwegian pattern, specially built at .Vliddlesborough for tne work. Hie ipecies known in the north were tin? lialaena Australis and the Megaptera (longiinana). The former were almost identical with the right whale found in the North Atlantic, but were not very profitable to catch. As the asult of seven months’ work in the , icinity of Campbell Island, ,Moss:s •Tagger and Cook were only able to jaten thirteen whales, and as a result they were turning their attention to die Megaptera, winch was known to inhabit the coast line more frequently. The Bakena Australis was invested with exceptional diving powers ind had unique methods for gathorits prey, which consisted chiefly shrimps. Tne whales obtained oy die Hananui were caught by the means of a svenfoyne harpoon, a wellKnown Norwegian invention. The Balaeaoptera, which was recognised as die fastest whale alloat, its speed averaging anything up to fifteen knots, ■fits well known in the Northern Hemsphere, and as years rolled by was ‘invading the southern water's of the lobe and could be found on the coast ■f New Zealand.' There were two sypes of the Balaenoptera, the Tibbaldi, averaging about vsft long, and tne .Vlusculas, about 6oft long. These ..ore obtainable in the pack-ice along .ho Ross Sea, but as only about ten ,reeks of tiie year were available to bunt the animal, lie doubted whether the expense. would justify whalers in going there. He had found that the .’•hales appeared to have a tendency ,o go south, and it was possible to find many of the northern species in die south. Turning again to the Balarnoptera, Mr Jfillie stated that they were able to stay below for a much longer time than the Megaptera, and this was entirely due to a very wonderful construction of the mouth. On the outside oi the throat there were a large number of grooves, resembling pleats, which worked in a concertina fashion, and when the mouth opened the lower jaws were made much larger than when shut. 'I ho illustration was in many respects similar to the, working of a Gladstone bag. _ By the aid of extra expansion the Balaenoptera was able to. swallow much more water for sieving purposes when in search of food. The whole thing practically amounted to an additional gill, and it was this additional lung capacity- 1 that enabled the animal to stay down .belpu;.. in, the water so long. During Mr Lillie’s stay at Whangaoiumu, Messrs dagger and Cook caught seven hunchback whales oi the Megaptera type. _ Very rarely the length of tiiese animals exceeded 43ft, and seldom 50ft. He spent most of Ids time dissecting the soft parts ol the anatomy of whales, of which little is known in New Zealand, as in the past most of the investigations have been made from dead whales of some time’s standing. Mr Lillie stated hat his investigations were too technical to explain to the public. He had also obtained a large quantity of plankton containing many new learn res of organisms relative to the sea. A large number of photographs and drawings of whales were obtained, and Mr Lillie stated that the collection was'ono of vital interest to the biologist, and his visit to Whangamumn had been exceedingly interesting and a further step in the advancement of this particular line of study.