WITH THE WHALERS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 59, Issue 4185, 13 September 1939, Page 4

WITH THE WHALERS

GERMAN ACTIVITIES IN THE ANTARCTIC. TAKING VIEWS AND SOUNDINGS. When I left Scotland last summer to sail to the Antarctic for the whaling . season I had no idea that I should be bringing back with me photographs of the life of whales, sea lions and seals in general, and that these would come before the public. Still less did I imagine that I should have experiences of such a nature as to make me feel that they should not remain locked up in my own recollections.

It happened like this. While on the Island of South Georgia in the Antarctic a German whaling factory ship came into the harbour, anchored and asked for water. This water was to serve for the crew of the factory ship and her six whale catchers. Permission was given and in came a German ship flying her Nazi flags fore and aft. She was made fast alongside our ships and straight away officers and crew of this German boat came ashore. Nearly everyone had a camera. They took photographs of the harbour and even took soundings in the bay from their small boats. They visited every part of the British whaling plant, saw how the work was done took photos and made notes. Nothing was said. Quite a good number of these Germans spoke English. At night time when work had ceased a good number of Britishers thought that as a return courtesy visit they would like to go on board the German ship and have a look round. In threes and fours they went down to this ship. To my surprise there was a big crowd at the foot of the gangway (all British). It was made clear to us all by the German Nazi guard that we were not allowed on board. The reason why was not given. That night on shore I. managed to get talking to some Germans. We had a sing-song, we drank rum, and I noticed more than one German was very keen on English cocoa. Having two big tins of this cocoa on hand, I told him that if he allowed me or got me on board I would give him a real big tin of cocoa for ’himself and the guard. To my great surprise this suggestion succeeded, and later I went on board. This man, with others, told me straight that he was a real German and that he liked the British. He spoke his mind, explained that he was not a Communist, but that he had to do what he was told. It was only the young men who were Nazi mad, but the German of. say, 40 or 50 years of age is very, very quiet. I mention this as I think it only right, seeing we had been so open with them in every way. There should be no misunderstanding as to their attitude. One little incident struck me as curious. Whenever possible the Germans collected old tin cans—milk, cocoa, meat essense, etc., and these I found were carefully stored on board and taken back to Germany. LIFE ON A WHALER. Life on the whalers is very interesting. To see the whale being harpooned to the cathes is a great sight.. When being hunted the whale has a speed of seven to ten knots, and develops about 50 horse power, . so that it is no easy customer to catch and kill. When landed it takes only four to six good flensers to cut it up and place it into boilers for boiling. After being boiled for 12 hours the fat (oil) is run off, cleaned and placed in tanks. The smell is terrible at first, but one gets used to it. The best whale to catch is the blue and fin whale. These give the most oil—two and three hundred barrels to one whale. The whale never plays round about land. The only time when it approaches is, when its natural food, a small srrimp called krill, moves shoreward. This shoal very often passes S. Georgia Island floating towards the great ice barrier in the South Antarctic, and it is at this time , the whales are caught off the sta- i Cion. The principal whale fishing is done ' off the main ice barrier, at what j

whalers call the ice. Here some 30,000 whales are caught every year. Every whale has a commercial value of approximately £2OO, so it is no wonder that the Germans are out to get hold of this industry as much as possible.

Whale flesh is quite good to eat. At first one may not like the idea, and often the question is asked whether the flesh tastes or smells fishy. Not at all. A good whale steak, well cooked by one who knows how to do it, tastes just as good as any meat eaten at home. In fact I think there is more sustenance in whale meat. Whilst we were on the Island of S. Georgia one morning an unfamiliar drone was heard. To our great surprise an aeroplane appeared in the sky. I myself thought it might have been a long distance flyer having got lost, but it turned out to be a seaplane from a British gunboat, the H.M.S. Exeter, cruising round this Antarctic island. When the ’plane sighted our small station it landed on the water and made a call for about ten minutes, and took off again. Later in the day H.M.S. Exeter steamed into the bay. What a sight. All frozen up, it was a lovely spectacle. I was very sorry that I had run out of photographic film and missed a beautiful. subject. A number of the crew came ashore and were given whale steam pie, and of course they asked for whale teeth and ear drums as souvenirs. AMONG THE SEA LIONS. Hunting seals and sea lions is a fascinating pursuit. It is easy to catch a seal on shore but very difficult in the water. The seal often comes to the land to sleep, and it is then thq.t it is shot with a rifle, but in the water nets are set and when caught the seal puts up a great fight. In the end it is either speared or shot. A seal is cut in two and placed into boilers and converted into oil the same as the whale. Seal oil is very good for keeping the cold out, and very often it is rubbed into the body for warmth. ,1 went all out to obtain photos of the seal and sea lion, and managed to get one as the seal was making straight for me on land. Everything is carried out in the extremely cold weather, and the freezing is very trying sometimes. Fishery research in regard to seals and whales proceeds in the Antarctic. One the marking of the whale or seal with a dart from a blow dart gun, which provides us with information about movement and migration, conditions of growth and the age composition of their stock, the addition of young fish and the reduction in the ranks of the old. Details have to be kept as records; in fact the British whalers in most cases can go straight to whale and seal without looking for them. The blue Antarctic Whale does not leave the Antarctic except in the winter when food (krill) is not to be had. It then moves to slightly wanner seas and returns half starved in the summer, apparently unaware that it has a dart disc with its age from birth still in its body.—Newton Laycock, in Weekly Scotsman.