WHALING TIMES

Hokitika Guardian, 1 April 1927, Page 4

WHALING TIMES

The story of the latest cruise ol the Norwegian steam whaling Meet in the Ross Sea reads, for all its modern touches, says a northern correspondent, like some epic of the ancient adventurous days when daring sailors put forth into unknown seas. The very names of the “ tisli ’’-teeming waters carry romance—Discovery lni’et, the ..ay of Whales. And the largest whale captured —125 feet long, .yielding 17.5 barrels of oil, worth over 91090—is possibly the greatest “take” ever made by a whale-ship, and lertainlv its species is the largest creature that swims tlie world’s oceans. Whales up to a hundred feet in i'eiiglli have Ireqiiently hocn taken ol the New Zealand coast, and yields of a hundred barrels from sperm whales have been numerous. Hut so far as one’s memory of old whalers' reminiscences goes nothing so huge as that 125 ft leviathan has ever been known in these waters.

Once upon a time whaling could have bee-ii described as the grandest big game sport. Hut present day methods have changed all that. Old Tom .fa Kson, the veteran whai'er of Kaikourn. who Imd limited whales for sixty years, waxed picturesque iii his language when be told of his harpooning and lancing experiences, and < oiilrasted them with the wavs of the power launches. “Sport!’’ lie said. “You might call it sport il yon like in Hint there old Swiltsure there. We had to sneak up on 'em and get the iron in quit k and lively, and then il Till lake mighty clever hatidi'ing to keep the boat right side up and slick to the whale. Hut these launches with their

migniv clever naiiiiniig to Keep me boat right side up and slick to the whale. Hut these launches with their gnus and their bombs! .lust shove a bomb in. and in two kicks (lie biinky Imle’s dead! ’’ Hut all the same the old-timer admitted the utility of the new-fangled ways that didn't require much sailorly skill. Those Norsemen of the I toss Sea 'Whaling Company's licet "ill take a "ay this season lrom the waters under New Zealand's jurisdiction about half a-milli-m .sterling worth of oil. An ! ilc-re is another company operating whose ret tiros six- not yet known. Is ! lin e not load for relict lion here lor \Y" Zealanders'r We hear much ah ml ihe necessity for "strengthening our secondary industries," and we « n courage the keen fun tgner lrom theother end of the world to rake our seas tor their wealth. The Lardy Xorsem( n arc increasing their fleets and their profits yearly, and are evidently determined to empty the Ross Sea ol whales while the hunting is good. The supply may seem limitless just now, hut by the time our own whaling enterprise is revived, and Ntw Zealand sends a fleet of gun-steamers to the Antarctic, will there lie one tisli left ? One awaits a word of wisdom on the subject from our .Marine Departmentfollowing up the warnings of Sir Douglas Alnwson.