REMINISCENCES OF A WHALE HUNT AT GOOLE 
OVER THIRTY YEARS AGO. 
By WILLIAM MorrFiITt. 
(Read February rst, 1899.) 
AVING read the account of the “whale hunt” in Mr. 
Thomas Bunker’s interesting paper on “The Natural 
History of Goole Moor and the Immediate Vicinity,” which is 
printed in the Transactions of this Club for last year, it occurred 
to me that as I was present on the occasion referred to, a few notes 
on the subject from me might be of interest. 
During the early part of the forenoon of a hot summer day 
in 1863 or 1864 a friend of mine at Goole sent one of his boys 
to say that there were some “big fish” in the river. I went 
as far, and found a number of bottle-nosed whales* evidently 
chasing salmon. It was about half ebb-tide on the “springs.” t 
Captain Wilburn of the “Sandringham,” which was anchored 
outside the docks, lent me his boat, and off we went. By 
this time they were close to us, and several people on the 
river side were shooting at them. We found the shooting very 
dangerous, as when the bullets struck the animals they merely 
glanced off again. Our intention was to try to drive them into 
shallow water. The boats’ crews used their weapons with good 
effect, and caused the whales to turn towards the land, but having 
plenty of water to swim in they broke through our line. The 
boats were then formed into a crescent, and we kept heading 
towards the land, though owing to the strong ebb-tide this was 
done with difficulty. The animals finding themselves getting into 
shallower water became very fierce. We still kept the crescent 
form, and they came towards the boats, endeavouring to force 
their way through. Boat-hooks and oars were used with good 
effect—several of the whales being wounded as they came up to 
blow. We had now worked three-quarters of a mile from Goole 
Docks, and were trying to keep the “bottle-noses” on the east 
side of the river, as the water was shallower there. This they 
seemed to realize, as they became dangerous, and tried their 
* Two teeth from one of these specimens have been sent to the British 
Museum, and Mr. C. W. Andrews, F.G.s., agrees that they are those of a 
bottle-nosed whale.—Ep. 
+ Spring Tide. 
