CRABS, AND WHELKS 



tackle is shot in the same manner as the ordinary long 

 lines, the far end buoyed, and the other either buoyed or 

 kept in the boat. 



In a very short time the lines are alive with whelks, for 

 their movements are quicker than those of land gastero- 

 pods, and their appetites more ravenous. They fasten 

 themselves on the unresisting crabs and, with their power- 

 ful, toothed tongues, begin to eat through the shell ; 

 when once they have taken the bait nothing will shake 

 them off, and the little fools fall victims to their own 

 greed. The strength of a whelk is enormous ; pick one 

 up when he is crawling about the deck and try to hold 

 him from withdrawing into his shell ; you cannot do it 

 once in a hundred times. No wonder then that the 

 pulling up of the trots does not shake off any of the 

 catch from their prey. 



It may be surmised, from their being caught in such 

 large numbers, that whelks are very prolific ; they are. 

 When do you ever go to the seaside without seeing the 

 spawn lying about? It is contained in those irregular 

 clumps or bunches of white, spongy-looking globules that 

 are often taken for seaweed. Dog-whelk spawn is generally 

 seen only in deep water and, instead of being bunched 

 together, every capsule is distinct ; it is generally thrown 

 on stones and rocks, and looks like a beautiful yellow 

 growth or lichen, in shape and size not unlike heather 

 blossom. 



Whclking is a trade by itself ; and it is a very lucrative 

 one, partly because many men are frightened at the 

 apparently low prices paid for the fish, and so steer clear 



175 



