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XIX. The Whale Fisheries of the Falkland Islands and Dependencies. 

 By Theodore E. Salvesen, F.R.S.E., Leith. (With Ten Plates.) 



(MS. received December 9, 1913. Issued separately May 12, 1914.) 



Time was, and not long ago. when the only human enemies of the Cachalot or Sperm 

 whale (Physeter macrocephalus], and of the southern Right whale (Baltena australis) 

 in the South Atlantic and Antarctic oceans, were the crews of British and American 

 whaling ships. The whales of the Finner species, such as the Blue whale (Balaenoptera 

 sibbaldii), the Finner whale (Baltenoptero, musculus or physalus), and the Humpback 

 whale (Megaptera boops), were left entirely unmolested, the reason being that the 

 method of capture was unsuitable. Rowing boats were employed, where the harpooner 

 stationed in the bow threw by hand or shot from a gun a harpoon, with or without 

 a bomb, and attached to a whaling line. The Cachalot and Right whales generally 

 remain some time on the surface, thereby enabling a rowing boat to approach 

 them ; whereas the Finner species are much more active in their movements, 

 and are only awash for a very short time when breathing. However, there might 

 now and again be opportunities for even a rowing boat to approach and kill a Finner 

 whale, but it would not be possible to bring the dead whale to the surface. This is 

 simply owing to the fact that the Finner whales sink after being killed, whereas the 

 Cachalot and Right whales float when dead. The weight of the carcase of the dead 

 Finner whale is very much greater than the buoyancy of an ordinary whale boat, and 

 if an attempt were made to lift the dead whale to the surface the whale boat would 

 naturally be drawn under. 



These whalers were wooden sailing vessels of about 150 to 450 tons register, and 

 carried on pelagic whaling, touching only at ports in order to refit. They were 

 complete in themselves, inasmuch as they carried not only their whale boats and 

 gear, but also the products of the catch, the blubber being rendered into oil on board. 



The industry was commenced in the beginning of the eighteenth century, the first 

 British whaling fleet of 12 vessels sailing in 1725 for the southern seas. In the first 

 half of the nineteenth century as many as 500 to 600 vessels were employed in the 

 southern hemisphere hunting Cachalot and southern Right whales. Since then the 

 number of vessels has been very greatly reduced owing to the fall in value of the 

 products, viz. oil and baleen, combined with increased working expenses and smaller 

 catches. At present this class of whaler is practically unknown in the Antarctic Regions. 



The existence of enormous quantities of whales of the Finner tribe in the southern 

 seas was well known in whaling circles, and by members of Antarctic scientific ex- 

 peditious. Various attempts had been made to form companies for the purpose of 



