53 



NOTES ON THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY 



OF 1902. 



By Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S. 



At the last moment, after the bulk of the men had " signed 

 on," the sealing voyage of 1902 was in danger of being ruined by 

 one of those modern trade disasters known as "strikes"; the 

 men, to the number of some three thousand, refused to join their 

 ships, or to allow others to do so, except on terms which it was 

 impossible for the owners to grant ; but happily, by the inter- 

 vention of the Governor, and by mutual concessions, this calamity 

 was averted, and the ships left fully manned after very little 

 delay. 



Much uncertainty existed as to the probable locality in which 

 the young Seals would be found, as no ice was to be seen from 

 the land, and it was thought that they would haul up on the 

 heavy arctic ice farther from the shore, which indeed proved to 

 be the case. The absence of ice on the east coast has by some 

 been thought to be due to a change in the direction of the set of 

 the Gulf Stream across the Atlantic, and to this also is attri- 

 buted the undoubtedly milder winter climate which has been 

 experienced of late in Newfoundland. 



The first vessel to return was the ' Newfoundland,' which 

 arrived on the 23rd March, after a very unfortunate voyage, with 

 only 305 Seals on board. In forcing his way through the heavy 

 arctic floe which Captain Farquhar met with, he unfortunately 

 carried away the vessel's stem, necessitating his return, and the 

 abandonment of the voyage. 



The experience of the ' Leopard ' may be taken as typical of 

 the eastern fishery. She departed on the 11th of March, and 

 made direct for Funk Island, encountering the loose ice on the 

 13th, and a few Whitecoats about forty miles N. by E. of that 

 island ; but, a gale coming on, she was jammed in the ice, and no 

 more Seals were met with till the 17th. On the 18th the main 



