WHALING IN THE SOUTH.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16420, 14 January 1919, Page 8

WHALING IN THE SOUTH.

WHERE BRITONS LAGGED BEHIND. When Sir Ernest Shackleton returned from his last journey to the Antarctic nearly two years ago Ile on , e ' he had been surprised to find at South Georgia, a British lsiand on the fringe of the Antarctic regions, some well-esr-tablished and Prosperous whaling stations. The : history of these enterprises is outlined in a recent report on whale fisheries, issued by the Government of the Falkland Islands. It appears .that the Norwegians have been allowed to make a practical monopoly of whale fishing in waters tnafc may fairly be regarded as British. In 1900 the Falkland Islands Govern-ment-announced that it was prepared to grant a mining and general lease or, South Georgia, then an uninhabited and largely unknown island, for a term or twenty-one years,-with right of renewal, to any responsible individual or c° m " pany on certain stated conditions, oome time later a company was formed m Chile, called. the South Georgia Exploration Company, composed chiefly or British farmers with interests in Patagonia.. This company, in 1905, was granted a. lease of the island for a preliminary period of two years at a nominal rental of £1 a year, with an additional £10 a year for a sealing license. \- But the British company did not proceed with any form of development. Captain C. A. Larson, a Norwegian who had commanded the ship Antarctica, of the Swedish Polish Expedition, in 1902. was on the scene, and he formed a Norwegian companyto develop the whale fisheries. Tho British company, which had a capital of only £3000, was bought out bv the Norwegians tor £1.500. Captain Larsen had had wide experience of whale fisheries, and he soon had ships and gear at his disposal. He was successful from the outset, ana to-day there are no fewer ] than eigne companies engaged in whaling in the waters around South Georgia, with their stations on the island. Jive or them aro Norwegian and three are nominally British, but the staffs are Norwegian almost to a man. crther Norwegian companies are v -' or^l whale fisheries of the South Shetlands and Graham's Land, which also aro British territories. , , During 1917, according to the reports furnished to the Falkland Go.ernment. tho whalers killed no fewer than 7516 whales, and won oil to the value of £1,512,000. They also killed 2941 sea elephants, and 77 sea leopards, which produced 5297 barrels of oil worth £26,4C0. The significance of these figures is made apparent, by the further statement that the Norwegians are killing whales all the year round There seems to be no doubt that the foreign companies, having got into an advantageous or.sition owing to the indifference of British people, aio making hay whilo the sun shines. If thoy aro left in possession for a few more years there will be very few whales .to kill in. the waters of South Georgia.