As Good Fish in the Sea as Ever Came Out

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 306, 17 March 1928, Page 12

As Good Fish in the Sea as Ever Came Out

“Millions of Whales ” Says Whaling Captain

BONUSES FOR CREW “Why, there are more whales in the >:ea than people on the earth,” explained Captain H. Andresen, master of tli© Norwegian whaling depot ship N. T. Nielsen-Alonso, recently, when told of .fears that whales may soon be extinct through wholesale slaughter, says the “Daily Guardian.” “There are whales in millions —the only problem is to catch them,” he added, and his officers said that operations .n previous years had not appreciably affected the numbers. Indeed, this season whales seemed more numerous than ever. The N. T. Nielsen-Alonso, homeward bound to Norway by way of Cape Horn, came into Port Jackson for 1,500 tons of bunker coal and anchored off Point Piper. In the vessel’s tanks were between 57,000 and 58,000 barrels of oil—--9,500 tons. Although this is a heavy cargo for the N. T. Nielsen-Alonso, the other Norwegian whalers operating to the south of New Zealand and Australia are bigger ships, with heavier cargoes, the Sir James Clarke Ross having 7U.000 barrels, while the C. A. Larsen, which struck a rock in Port Lyttelton, bad 80,000 barrels. The total value of these cargoes is nearly £2,000,000. Big Bonuses The complement of the Nielsen-Al-onso were in great spirits, for all will substantially benefit from their ship’s wages, even the seamen and mess-boys receive a bonus from the profits—probabaly about £SO each for the seamen and £4O each for the mess-boys. All felt that they liad earned their money. Twelve-hour shifts are the rule tor the whalers—6 a.m. until 6 p.m., and from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.—in a region of perpetual day. A tot of rum is served on particularly severe mornings, and officers said that it worked wonders. Including the crews of the Pols —the five chasers, small but staunch oilburning steamers of 750 horse-power—-there were nearly 200 men in the N.T. Nielsen-Alonso expedition. Thirty of them were Tasmanians, and officers were enthusiastic in their praise of the big majority of these Australians. Two Stowaways The Tasmanians w'ere paid off at Hobart, but two of them liked the steamer so much that they hid in the store room and were not found until the vessel was well at sea. They will be sent back to Hobart. There was no sickness during the visit to the Antarctic, but two seamen lost their lives. One was swept overboard in a gale, and the other died after being caught in a flying hawser. His body is being taken to Norway. The master, Captain Andresen, has previously operated from the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. The chief engineer, Mr. J. Andresen, a nephew of the master, accompanied the N. T. Nielsen-Alonso on her previous trip. The N. T. Nielsen-Alonso brought a huge set of lower jaw-bones of a whale for presentation to the Royal Sydney Yacht Club.