THE WHALE’S NURSE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 56, Issue 4065, 27 June 1938, Page 3

THE WHALE’S NURSE

The Royal Research ship William Scoresby has returned from her lonely job of marking whales in the Antarctic and one had the opportunity of learning something of her experiences from her captain, Lieutenant R. C. Freaker, and Mr. G. W. Rayner, who directed the scientific work on which she has been engaged, says the

“Manchester Guardian.” She is often referred to as the whales’ nurse by the Scandinavian whalers of the South Polar regions, but her meteorological and biological research work, in addition to marking and noting the movement of whales, is also of great importance. The chief pleasure the ship’s company had in this “back of beyond” cruise of about six months was the wireless news and the newspaper, the “Pelagic News,” which was published

abroad. Visitors were shown its Christmas number. All contributions had been supplied by the crew, among whom are poets and artists. The wireless operator as editor made a fine job of that Christmas number.

No penguins were brought back, although some members of the crew were asked to forget about parrots and bring back a penguin when she left six months ago; but someone has brought back part of the vertebra of a whale from the beach of South Georgia. The ship’s pet of the Scoresby is a monkey, not a cat. These cruises of the Discovery Committee’s two vessels, Discovery II and William Scoresby, are about the loneliest job for a sailorman in these days, and it says much for the stamina, character, and health of the men who make these voyagings that they stick to this kind of seafaring in some of the worst weather to be encountered in any part of the globe. It is no pleasure cruise on a “whale’s nurse.”