WtlALE HUNTING WITH GUN AND CAMERA 



little steamships which were destined to take the 

 place of New England's fleet, destroyed by the Con- 

 federate raiders during the Civil War. 



Although despised by the "deep-water" whalers of 

 New Bedford, nevertheless shore whaling has rap- 

 idly grown into a world industry which today, in 

 the height of its prosperity, yields a revenue of nearly 

 $70,000,000 a year. 



In the old days only three species, the sperm, bow- 

 head and right whale, were hunted and until Svend 

 Foyn invented the harpoon-gun the fin whales, of 

 less commercial value, were seldom captured. Their 

 yield of oil was so small, and the whalebone so short 

 and coarse, that if these products alone were utilized 

 they were not worth the trouble of killing. More- 

 over, the great speed of the animals in the water and 

 their tendency to sink when dead made them unac- 

 ceptable to the men who hunted in a small boat with 

 a hand harpoon and lance. 



With the development of steam whalers the situa- 

 tion was changed, for they made possible the cap- 

 ture of "finners" in sufficient numbers to warrant 

 the erection of stations at certain points on the shore, 

 near the feeding grounds of the animals, where the 

 huge carcasses could be brought in and converted into 

 commercial products. 



The perfection of the harpoon-gun and steam whale 

 ships came only after long discouragement and per- 

 sistent effort upon the part of Svend Foyn. Foyn 

 was born in T^nsberg in 1809, and died there in 1894. 

 He went to sea at fourteen in the merchant service 



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