labours of British and Continental cetologists have, however, settled most of the
doubtful points, although there still remains much to be done in studying the
migration, food, breeding, habits, colour, and sporadic variation of the different
species. Even to-day, after immense numbers of Fin Whales have been examined
by competent authorities, we find an almost unanimous opinion that the Common
Rorqual is ‘ black,’ and that Sibbald’s Rorqual or the Blue Whale takes its puerile
name of ‘ Sulphur-bottom’ from the yellow tint on the belly. The Common
Rorqual is never ‘ black ’ on the upper parts during life, nor have I met with a
whaling captain that has ever seen a freshly killed Blue Whale with a yellow
tint on the belly. Even so accurate an observer as True seems to have followed
the usual method of taking his colours of Whales from decomposing material,
although in most instances he is careful not to commit himself to error, but
simply remarks in most cases, colour ‘ dark ’ or ‘ light ’ as the case may be. This
is not the way to study living animals, for unless the colour is taken immediately
the Whale is shot it is useless for future reference. No animal decomposes or
alters in colour so rapidly as the great Whales. In four hours the Common and
Rudolphi’s Rorqual turn black on the upper parts, and all Whales are in a state
of rapid decomposition in six or seven hours on a summer day.
A few Fin Whales have for centuries been killed by the daring colonists of the
New World and the natives of the Northern coasts. The hardy Basques, too,
probably captured an occasional Rorqual in the course of their annual visits to
the St. Lawrence, but our great aid to the study of these animals was the invention
of a Norwegian seaman, Captain Svend Foyn, who in 1865 perfected a small
cannon which fires a ‘ bomb’ harpoon from the bow of a small but powerful
steamer. For several years he followed the industry of killing the Fin Whales
which existed in large numbers on his own coasts. At the expiration of his
patent in 1882 many companies were formed to hunt the Finmark and Murmanski
coasts. In a few years this fleet of steamers decimated the home waters, and the
Norwegian Government enacted restrictions to prevent the complete destruction of
the Whales. This led to the opening of fresh stations in Iceland, and subsequently
in Faroe, Newfoundland, Labrador, the St. Lawrence, the Shetlands, and Harris.
Now manycompanies occupy stations on the Pacific coast of America, and the first
comers are reaping their oily harvest. At the present day no fewer than two thousand
Fin Whales are taken annually in Shetland, Harris, Faroe, Newfoundland,1 thé
1 In 1904, 1275 Whales were killed in Newfoundland waters, and in 1905, 892. In Shetland 415 were killed in 1904
and 414 in 1905. The gross value each year would be about 25,000/.
St. Lawrence, and Iceland, and I shall give particulars of the numbers captured
as we consider the hunting of the various species.
The chase of the Fin Whales is conducted by small steamers of about a hundred
tons burden, fitted with powerful engines capable of steaming twelve to fourteen knots.
A small mortar, firing a heavy harpoon with detachable head containing a small charge
of gun-cotton, is mounted on a swivel in front of a small platform in the bows. Here
the captain stands and waits his opportunity, when the man in the ‘ crow’s nest ’
sees the spout of the Whale and the vessel gives chase. When approaching a Whale,
the engines are slowed down so as to make as little noise as possible, for the
Whale is easily alarmed by the throb of the screw. Unless constantly subject to
molestation, the Fin Whales are comparatively tame, especially when ‘ on feed,’ and
the vessel runs up close to its quarry during the time it is taking its * superficial ’
dives on the surface. Once the Whale ‘ sounds,’ the vessel ‘ lays to ’ and awaits the
next ‘ blow.’ Then it runs up again and repeats its manoeuvres to get as near as
possible. This waiting and hunting may be repeated for an hour, but sooner or
later the captain gets his chance, a shot at about ten to twenty yards, and the
Whale is either missed, killed on the spot, or simply ‘ struck ’ and ‘ held.’ Of the
various excitements of this chase I shall give instances later.
The steamers operate from stations on the coast, and generally kill their prey
within a day’s run of the harbour. When the weather is fine it is not unusual for
one steamer to kill and tow two, three, and even four Whales in a single day.
But a Whale fier diem, is considered good work, and after some luck it is usual
to hurry back with the carcase, which is more valuable when it arrives fresh. Mr.
Haldane thus describes briefly1 the process of treatment of the Whale products:
‘When the blubber is taken off the Whale to be boiled down into oil, the
baleen is cut out of the jaw. The carcase is then drawn to the other side of the
slip, where the flesh is cut off with large flensing knives, and carried by a chain
of buckets to the first floor of the boiling-house. Here it is emptied into huge
vacuum pans and boiled by steam for several hours. The boiled flesh is then
removed by the manhole. It resembles spent tan bark. It is now wheeled to
another series of buckets, which carry it up to the top of the desiccator, a big
cylinder of brickwork with large iron trays which revolve slowly, the meat
dropping from one to another, the whole being heated by a furnace of coke.
When the flesh reaches the ground it is quite dry, with little smell, and dogs
eat it readily. Again it is taken up in buckets to the top of a mill in which
1 Ann. Scot. Nat. H ist. 1906, pp. 130-137.