AFTER THE WHALES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 89, 31 August 1912, Page 8

AFTER THE WHALES.

NORWEGIAN ENTERPRISE. PROSPECTING CRUISE BY THE IIOBAIIT. ANTRACTIC TO BE INVADED. Christ«hurch, August 28. The steam whaler Hobart, which left Lyttelton last night, will make a "prospecting crui6e" on her way round the coast to Westport. Her master is on the look-out for good whaliag grounds, and will investigate the waters in the vicinity of Kaikoura, Cook Strait, Queen Charlotte Sound, and Kapiti Island, special attention being paid to the anchorages in the neighborhood of the two last-mentioned places. It is stated that during the past few weeks whales have been very scarce in New Zealand waters, and the catches of the two fleets have been very small. The Hawk has not killed a single whale during the past five weeks. The managers of the companies are, however, by no means discouraged, and are of opinion that the present time is an "ox season." Information has been received in Christchurcli that the Laborimus Whaling Company, a big Norwegian concern, will shortly take an active part in the whaling industry in this part of the world. The company will send out to New Zealand the big steamei; Laborimus, of 8000 tons dead-weight capacity. She i* at present being fitted out in Norway as a floating factory, completely equipped for dealing with twenty-four whales per day. She will be accompanied by two fast and up-to-date whale-hunting steamers, similar to the Hobart and others now in New Zealand waters, and is expected to arriv'e out at the Bluff in November. 11l connection with this fleet, to which the Hobart, Eagle and other whale-hunt-ers will probably be attached, a bold step is proposed. As has been shown by the reports of the Antarctic exploration expeditions, Whales abound in the seas I of the far South, having probably taken to those lonely stretches, of ocean to escape from the operations of the modern whalers. The Laborimus Company will send its floating factory and the whaling steamers to the far South, and during the summer months the hardy Norse whalers will operate in the seas inside the Antarctic Circle. It has always been considered impracticable and unsafe for steel vessels to attempt to navigate the ice-strewn seas of those high latitudes, but the Norwegians are confident that they can successfully carry on whaling operations during the summer, and it is intended by the Norwegian whalers that, with ordinary care, the floating ice will not be a bar to their work. It is hoped that the factory Laborimus ] and her fleet of whale-hunting steam erp will be able to carry on as far south as the Great Ice Barrier of the Antarctic, and with favorable weather conditions will reap a rich harvest of the seas.