SLAUGHTER OF WHALES

Hokitika Guardian, 20 July 1932, Page 3

SLAUGHTER OF WHALES

FORTY THOUSAND IN TEN YEARS. * i SYDNEY, July 10 The possibility that the wholesale slaughter of whales, sea elephants, anil seals in- 'blie.—Antarctic regions would ruin a valuable industry, was emphasised by Mr- H. 0. Fletcher, formerly zoologist of the British, Australian, and New Zealand Antarctic Expedition, in a lecture -on “The Islands of the Roaring Forties,” at the, Australian Museum. These islands, said Mr Fletcher, haf gained • their name because they were almost continuously swept by hurricanes. Rocky, ice.-capped, and inhospitable, they had at - first seemed useless. It was only in recent years, with the development of the whaling industry in Antarctic seas, that their commercial value had- been realised. Unless steps were taken to check commercial exploitation, however, the numbers of whales and .seals in the southern sens would be seriously depleted. The best method of control would be to appoint an inspector to -each vessel operating in these waters, in order to see that the restrictions imposed by the various -Governments controlling the area, were observed.

Between 1910' and 1920, cont'nueji Mr Fletcher, 40,000 whales were Rilled in Antarctic seas. The value of, they oil obtained from them,was .about, f1j1.5,000,000. During the wajp .the British . Government had, insisted that oil derived in these regions should he sold on,.the British market, and had thus assured a supply of oils containing glycerine for use in the manufacture of explosives. About 50,000,000 gallons of oil was sp marketed.