WHALE HUNTING WITH GUN AND CAMERA 



almost despaired of getting a shot the man in the bar- 

 rel shouted, "He's coming, right below us." 



Looking down into the water I could see the ghostly 

 form of the whale rising to the surface with tremen- 

 dous force just in front of the bow. There was no 

 time to stop the ship and the animal burst from the 

 water half under the vessel's side. I started back, 

 shielding my camera from the spout, and, stumbling 

 over a pile of chains on the deck, slid almost to the 

 forecastle companionway. Scrambling up, I jumped to 

 the rail and snapped the camera at the huge body 

 partly hidden by the boat. 



The whale seemed dazed by his sudden appearance 

 under the steamer, and rolling on his side, went down 

 only a few feet, reappearing ten fathoms away. So- 

 renspn, who had held to the gun, steadied himself, 

 swung the muzzle about, and taking deliberate aim, 

 planted the harpoon squarely behind the fin. It was 

 a beautiful shot, and the whale went down without 

 a struggle. The quiet which followed the deafen- 

 ing explosion was broken only by the soft swish of 

 the line running out from the winch and the men go- 

 ing to their places. I was leaning against the side 

 almost weak from the excitement of the last few 

 minutes when Sorenson, a pleased grin on his sun- 

 burned face, turned and said, "I didn't miss him that 

 time, did I ? He never moved after I fired." 



Four hours more of chasing first one and then 

 another brought the vessel close to a humpback and 

 again Sorenson sent the harpoon crashing into the 

 lungs, killing at the first shot. As the day had been 



52 



