Whales

News that last week pleased many Norwegians was annoying to two groups of U. S. manufacturers, the producers of vegetable and animal oils. With whale oil in direct competition and a lower tariff on it threatened, U. S. fine-oil men heard that sailing for the Antarctic on Norway's first seaplane-equipped whaling boats were Pilots Riisar-Larsen and Leutzowe Holm, seasoned polar flyers for the late Explorer Roald Amundsen. Experiment off Alaska has proven the feasibility of spotting whales from the air at long range, resulting in tremendous kills, big cargoes of whale oil, cheap prices for competition with other oils.

Once a prime whaling centre, New England is now whale-conscious only when a stray carcass is washed ashore to decompose into a smelly blubbery mass. From San Pedro, Cal., a few independent whalers operate on a small scale. But except for some whaling boats that make South America their headquarters and a few English companies, Norway has a practical monopoly on the industry.

Prosperous, popular investments are the larger Norwegian whaling companies. Last season three of the big ones reported combined profits of over $2,000,000, declared average dividends of 30%. Typical of the industry is the C. A. Larsen, biggest whaling boat (9,431 tons). Last year the C. A. Larsen, her hold filled with whale oil, tossed 500 tons of coal into the sea to make room for more oil, returned with a $1.000,000 cargo. Such trips paid off her construction cost in two years.

The ships that sailed last week are "factory" ships, outfitted to treat the whale's carcass after it is taken into the boat through a great opening in the bow. In the ports of New Zealand, Tasmania and Australia, these vessels are met by the small "killer" boats which bring in the whales. In addition to airplanes, modern "factory" ships use radio telephones, while the small "killers" carry a cannon that shoots a time-fused, explosive, 120-lb. harpoon. Once splashing and spouting in all the seas, whales are now found plentifully only in small areas of the Arctic and Antarctic.

The American Council for the Conservation of Whales sadly predicts the animals will soon be exterminated. They reproduce only once in 12 months, are slaughtered at the rate of 30,000 annually.

Next to man, the shrewdest enemy of the whale is the thresher shark. Warily the thresher waits until mating time, when whales throw caution to the waves, splash and frisk on the surface, leap over and dive under each other, bumping and slapping in great loving tail-thwacks that can be heard for a mile.* At this time the shark darts tormentingly about the whale's head. When the whale opens his mouth to bite, the shark snaps at his tongue, holds him submerged until drowned. Then, to the anger of whale-lovers, the wasteful shark eats only the tongue before searching for other victims.

Selling in the U. S. at about 50-c- per gallon, whale oil is used mainly for soap production. Although many whalers bring back only oil, others are prepared to render all the byproducts, used chiefly for fertilizer and cattle meal. Thrifty Japanese treat a whale as thoroughly as they do a hog. The meat is sold in tins. In Tokyo, the tips of whale tails are considered the height of delicacy. The Arctic Right Whale, once valued at $10,000 each because of the fine corset stays it yielded, is no longer greatly desired, is practically free to cavort, make love, furiously batter its head against steel vessels.

*There is no record of whales having been observed in actual copulation. Seamen say that when a whale wins his mate, he escorts her to the dark waters of great depths.