﻿416 
  

  

  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  GEOGRAPHIC 
  MAGAZINE 
  

  

  A 
  SKA-ELEPHANT 
  GOING 
  DOWN 
  A 
  BANK 
  

  

  These 
  creatures, 
  despite 
  their 
  ungainly 
  movements 
  on 
  land, 
  are 
  able 
  

   to 
  bob 
  along 
  on 
  a 
  level 
  surface 
  faster 
  than 
  a 
  man 
  can 
  walk. 
  

  

  phant 
  is 
  the 
  largest 
  of 
  seals, 
  and 
  is 
  thickly 
  

   invested 
  with 
  blubber 
  which 
  yields 
  an 
  oil 
  

   little 
  inferior 
  to 
  the 
  product 
  of 
  the 
  sperm 
  

   whale; 
  hence, 
  "elephant 
  hunting'' 
  became 
  

   an 
  important 
  industry 
  at 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  sub- 
  

   Antarctic 
  islands. 
  In 
  many 
  of 
  its 
  haunts 
  

   the 
  species 
  was 
  soon 
  exterminated, 
  and, 
  

   although 
  at 
  South 
  Georgia 
  it 
  still 
  persists, 
  

   its 
  days 
  are 
  numbered 
  unless 
  absolute 
  

   protection 
  be 
  soon 
  enforced. 
  

  

  Tin; 
  world's 
  GREATEST 
  WHALE 
  FISHERY 
  

  

  Bui 
  the 
  tale 
  of 
  human 
  industry 
  at 
  the 
  

   barren 
  isle 
  is 
  not 
  yet 
  told, 
  and 
  the 
  latest 
  

   development 
  already 
  overshadows 
  a 
  cen- 
  

   tury 
  of 
  sealing. 
  Eighteen 
  years 
  ago 
  Nor- 
  

   wegian 
  seafarers, 
  Vikings 
  still, 
  found 
  a 
  

  

  field 
  unspoiled 
  by 
  the 
  

   bloody 
  dynasty 
  of 
  

   their 
  American 
  prede- 
  

   cessors, 
  and 
  they 
  have 
  

   made 
  South 
  Georgia 
  

   the 
  headquarters 
  of 
  

   the 
  greatest 
  whale 
  fish- 
  

   ery 
  on 
  earth. 
  

  

  Between 
  1910 
  and 
  

   1920 
  more 
  than 
  forty 
  

   thousand 
  whales, 
  rep- 
  

   resenting 
  a 
  value 
  of 
  

   roughly 
  fifty 
  millions 
  

   of 
  dollars, 
  have 
  been 
  

   shot 
  on;;, 
  the 
  offshore 
  

   banks 
  and 
  towed 
  to 
  

   the 
  bustling 
  whaling 
  

   stations 
  of 
  the 
  island. 
  

   In 
  a 
  single 
  year 
  (sea- 
  

   son 
  of 
  191 
  5- 
  191 
  6) 
  

   the 
  South 
  Georgian 
  

   catch 
  numbered 
  5,510 
  

   whales. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  earlier 
  

   years 
  of 
  whaling, 
  the 
  

   humpback 
  was 
  the 
  

   mainstay 
  of 
  the 
  in- 
  

   dustry, 
  constituting 
  

   more 
  than 
  96 
  per 
  cent 
  

   of 
  the 
  catch; 
  the 
  fin- 
  

   back 
  whale 
  next 
  rose 
  

   to 
  importance 
  as 
  the 
  

   humpbacks 
  declined; 
  

   and, 
  finally, 
  the 
  blue 
  

   whale 
  has 
  become 
  the 
  

   principal 
  "fish." 
  

  

  This 
  sequence 
  cor- 
  

   responds 
  with 
  the 
  

   order 
  of 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  

   three 
  species, 
  the 
  

   humpbacks 
  being 
  50 
  feet 
  in 
  length 
  or 
  less, 
  

   the 
  finbacks 
  reaching 
  85 
  feet, 
  and 
  the 
  blue 
  

   whales 
  approaching, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  ex- 
  

   ceeding, 
  100 
  feet. 
  In 
  191 
  7- 
  18 
  the 
  propor- 
  

   tionate 
  numbers 
  of 
  the 
  three 
  species 
  taken 
  

   was 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  humpback, 
  2.5 
  per 
  cent 
  ; 
  

   finback, 
  29.3 
  per 
  cent; 
  blue 
  whale, 
  68.2 
  

   per 
  cent.* 
  

  

  WHALES 
  BURNISHED 
  Oily 
  EOR 
  WORLD 
  WAR 
  

  

  Explosives 
  

  

  Soon 
  after 
  the 
  outbreak 
  of 
  the 
  World 
  

   War 
  the 
  British 
  Minister 
  of 
  Munitions 
  

   appointed 
  an 
  official 
  to 
  take 
  charge 
  of 
  

  

  * 
  Report 
  of 
  the 
  Interdepartmental 
  Committee 
  

   on 
  Research 
  and 
  Development 
  in 
  the 
  Depend- 
  

   encies 
  of 
  the 
  Falkland 
  Islands, 
  1920, 
  p. 
  8. 
  

  

  