Catching a £300 Whale.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 October 1922, Page 4

Catching a £3OO Whale.

(Bv L. G. Green). CAPETOWN

It was from Table Bay that 1 set off on a whaling cruise; during the next two days I learned, why skippers of these little ships make over a thousand pounds in a good season. Every mini on hoard was a Norwegian. These- hardy Norsemen _aro found in whalers and on whaling stations all over tbe world. Early in tbe morning, our first at sea, 1 saw the feathery column of spray that betrayed the presence of a whale. The man in the masthead barrel had seen it first, and his loud shout of ‘'Lila-a-a-nsf” (meaning ‘‘There she blows”), brought the skipper oil deck. Me jammed the telegraph to “Full ahead,” and soon wc came close to tbe light blue shape, just below the surface, which showed where till' whale was swimming.

The skipper was in the bows, following every movement through tbe sights of the harpoon gun. Tin’s gun fires a harpoon with an explosive head. The sharp point begins the destruction of the whale, and explosion, four seconds afterwards, does the rest. Coiled in front of the gun was the “fore-go”—a long rope attached to the harpoon to prevent a wounded whale from getting away. The grey-blue mass rose above a wave-crest, water streaming from the long, ridged backbone. Tt was a blue whale—an eighty-footer at least.

The ship was pitching heavily, and before the gunner had time to lire the whale sounded ; we knew it- had dived because we saw the backbone arch as it headed for the depths. Ten minutes passed. Thou, away to starboard, another spoilt. Vibrating from stem to stern the whaler gave chase. Soon we were once more in position.

ft was ticklish work for the gunner, and more skill was needed than for any iob with a gun ashore. Again the whale blow, close to the hows.

A sharp explosion and a little* puff of smnke. Then we saw the harpoon darting out, the line whizzing after it. The* sharp point sank deep into the blubber.

Again the whale blew, a great cloud of blood. Then an inert mass floated dead on the surface. The monster was worth every penny of three hundred pounds. And whalers sometimes catch two or three a day in South African waters.

Slowly the whale was brought alongside, and pumped up with compressed air to prevent it from sinking. Then we set off for the whaling station. That is how whaling skippers earn a thousand pounds in five months. Hot their job is one of the hardest in the world.