A WHALE OF A YARN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 85, 8 November 1939, Page 5

A WHALE OF A YARN

THOUGH STRANGE, 'TIS TRUE BIG BLACK BEAST WHICH DIDN'T BLOW Apparently for the purpose of inspecting the island which bears the title of its race, a fifty-foot whale rose to the surface about one hundred yards off shore on the seaward side of Whale Island at half-past two 011 Saturday afternoon. It was in no great hurry to leave the spot and submerged several times. The Beacon interviewed a resident of Whakatane, wtio, with three companions, was in a small boat approximately eighty yards away from where the mammal first appeared. It would seem that these two were fortunate in that their craft is soundly caulked, because, reasoning 011 the colloquialism used by the resident, "It shook the tar out of us," the sudden appearance of the monster could have had the same effect on the boat.

"The whale rose with a sort of 'sucking' sound," said the local man. "and the water just seemed to part as the humped back appeared."

Realising that it was not the Nazi submarine they had first taken it for, the occupants of the small boat settled back with some relief. A submarine a few yards away is not the best of-things to see, but a whale! well, after all, what is a whale.

Dwarfing a nearby thirty-five foot launch, the big, black beast had an estimated length of fifty feet. After basking on the surface for a while, enjoying its afternoon 'Smoke-o', it took a long, deep breath and decided to call on friends below and advise them: (a) The state of the weather. (b) delightful and enticing proximity to Whakatane; and, (c) the irritating presence of a couple of boats and several humans. Taking in ballast, it sank beneath the waves to the accompaniment of a gurgling noise, with the water swirling and bubbling in its wake.

"'Good-bye/' said the local lad and his companions, "and happy hunting." They wiped the perspiration from their brows .and pretended that it was the slight swell which caused their logs to tremble so. But relief was only momentary.

The 'sucking sound' heralded the re-appearance ol the leading player and the water parted once more as Public Whale No. 1 took his second bow. This time, however, he was destined for trouble. The thirty-five foot launch to which we had occasion to refer as comparison for the size of the whale, had an armoury and one or two of the crew were skilled in the use of the musket. '"Full ahead on both" was the order given to the engineroom and the launch bore down on the mountain of meat. The crackle of musketiy brought the realisation of war to Whale Island and 303 bullets were skilfully guided into the mass. Naturally this tickled the whale. Mouth yawning in a huge grin of sheer delight, it made oil seawards, while from ever-increasing range the launch marksmen endeavoured to find that back tooth which is the only vulnerable spot on a whale.

We have no idea what happened when the whale was lost on the horizon. It probably informed acquaintances that the gnats were in form that afternon, or it may have decided that the game was so much

fun that it would call on Fort Dorset and try a round or two of sixinch high explosives. ,