THE LYALLBAY WHALE

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1498, 22 July 1912, Page 6

THE LYALLBAY WHALE

THOUSANDS INSPECT IT

MENACE TO PUBLIC HEALTH. who is -rksponsiulk? The huge decomposing whale,, stranded near I.yall Hay, threatens to become a menaeo-to public health as time goes on. There, certainly appears to bo grave, danger in leaving the carcass untouched any longer. The question as to who is responsible for its removal or destruction has led to a somewhat curious revelation. 'Like question of ownership (and responsibility)' has gone from the City Council through tho Marino Department to the Minister for Marino (the Hon. V. M. B.

Fisher), and lie has consulted the Crown Law Office as to liability. The latter authority has respectfully advised the Minister" that iho head of the whale belongs to the King, the tail to the Queen, and the body to its finders. As their Majesties may he assumed to bo finite indifferent as to the fate of the leviathan, the Minister has come to the conclusion that the two men who put in a claim for the whale (which was granted) arc responsible, and they are. being ashed" to proceed forthwith to disposo of the carcass in such a way that it will not become a danger or nuisance to the public. About Ambergris. Ono informant who has spent some time among the whalers at Tory Channel, and who was among those who visited Lyall Bay on Saturday, said that, the simplest and most payable way to deal with the carcass would* be to toko out a couple of big pots, and "try" the whole out on the spot. He states that it is a very valuable animal, and would "try out" very well. There would, he says, be no trouble about firing, as once a start was made, the fires could bo lcept going with the bones of the creature, which, being full of oil, make effective fuel. That was how they fired up at Tory Channel. The same informant, who claims to bo something of nn authority on the whale, pointed to a gash on the body, which had lieen suggested as having been made by some explorer for ambergris. "What nonsense!" he said. "As far as I know ambergris has never been found inside a whale. We know it is a morbid, secretion evidently caused by some ailment which the whale is subject to, but has only been found floating or washed asliore, never inside the whale. At Tory Channel the whalers never think of looking for it, and they know all there is to bo known about a whale!"

A Menace. So far tho only part of the animal which has been removed is the whalebone from the lower, jaw, which is very valuable. This leaves exposed. the 'tongue, about :eight feet in length,- which has been- pounded .into • the rock?. '. Tho curious' longitudinal -corrugations of ' the botjy are .clearly defined, and so squareedged- ' that .'small beys were nsing'-them lor steps .on'-'-Saturday- '• 'afternoon. -In view .of the state of the animal the'lnspector of Nuisances might be given authority to. keep all people at u distance from the carcass extent those engaged in its. destruction or reduction;. Thousands of Sight-Seers. On Saturday afternoon thousands of people visited Maranui to view the whale. Car after car, loaded to full capacity, ran to the Bay from 1 p.m. onwards, and it is calculated that with those who walked, cycled, and motored fully 5011(1 .people visited the malodorous spot, on Saturday.

There was another and even larger exodus from tho city to Lyall Bay yesterday ' from the time the cnrs commenced to run, and Saturday's figures wore easily eclipsed. Many' hundreds would have gone from the eastern end of the city, but were unable to rind accommodation on the crowded cars. Fortunately, the. wind was off the laud, but even so the smell was unpleasantly pronounced.' One citizen was apparently so exercised in mind that nothing hnd been dono that ho recommended that a hugo bon-firo of tar and pitch should bu made near tho animal, and that it should be so consumed there and then.

Whales of Long Ago. I Reference has been made to whales which were captured in 'Wellington Harbour, and had (according to some accounts) to be eventually towed to sea nnd sunk. This is hardly correct. Thewhales in question—three in number— followed Hie Rotemahana into port, and when she ronnded iter course off the To Aro beach to make her berth at . the Queen's Wharf, the whales grounded just outside the trestle-work railway line that was being usad in connection with the Te Aro reclamation. The blacksmiths of the Wellington Gas Company promptly made harpoons, and planted them in the 'sides of tho.splas'hing monsters, who were soon rendered hors de combat. At high water the carcasses were towed through the trestle-work and beached, and all Wellington inspected. them as they lay on the sand where Che Te Aro Railway Station is now located. They wero ultimately secured by the late Sir. John Plimmer, who, it is understood, "tried" them down, and crushed the bones in his bnncmill, then situated in Cornhill Street. Up till about five years ago some of the larger bones of these whales were used in the pioneer's fine old garden as seats, and for ornamental purposes. This negatives the statement that they were towed to sea. Neither of the three were of the snecies. nor wore they so large, as ths whale at I.yall Bay. They wero of an oven dark grey in colour, _ were shiny smooth all over like a' porpoise, and were said to be what were known then as black whales, of the typo frenuently seen about our coasts and in the Tasman Sea.