1919] 



on Subantarctic Whales and Whaling 



B 



baleen or wbaleboue of tbe Rigbfc Whales is a material of much 

 practical utiUty for many purposes ; but its importance is almost 

 neglis^ible compared with that of the oil which is derived from the 

 blubber and other parts of whales. Whale-oil can be readily trans- 

 formed into soap and glycerine, while it is possible to prepare from 

 it a fat which is perfectly inodorous and is utilised in the manufac- 

 ture of margarine. During the War it has been of vital importance. 

 Enormous quantities of glycerine derived from it have been used for 

 the manufacture of explosives, and it has been hardly less important 

 in its relation to the food-supply. If whale-oil had not been obtain- 

 able, the glycerine which was essential for our National security must 

 have been derived from other animal fats or from vegetable oils ; 

 and the shortage of fat required as food would have been very 

 serious. After the oil has been extracted on the whaling grounds, 

 the remainder of the carcass may be dried and ground down into 

 "guano," which is valuable as a fertiliser for crops and is also 

 utilised for the preparation of cattle-foods. It is not always possible 

 to carry out this part of the process ; and an enormous waste of 

 valuable material may result from this omission. Since it is well 

 known that the flesh of Cetacea is fit for human food, it is by no 

 means impossible that a part of the enormous quantity of meat which 

 might be obtained from them may be so utihsed in the future. 



Although a few Right Whales and Sperm Whales are captured by 

 the Subantarctic whalers, who occasionally kill some of the smaller 

 Cetacea as well, the industry in these waters is almost entirely con- 

 fined to three species of the larger whales. Of these the Humpback 

 rarely exceeds 55 feet in length, the Fin Whale is not much more 

 than 85 feet, while the Blue Whale, probably the largest animal that 

 has ever existed, is sometimes over 100 feet long. In the first few 

 years of Subantarctic whaling, the Humpback constituted nearly the 

 whole catch, even more than 96 per cent, in 1910-11, when 5299 

 individuals o^" this species were captured off South Georgia in the six 

 months of the principal whaling season. In 1912-13 the number of 

 Humpbacks caught in the same locality, in the corresponding six 

 months, fell to 2251 (about 53 per cent, of the total catch), and in 

 1913-11: it was reduced to 474 (about 18 per cent.). This diminu- 

 tion, which has persisted to the present time, has been due largely 

 to a reduction of the number of Humpbacks frequenting South 

 Georgia ; but it has been partly caused by an increase in the size of 

 the whaling vessels and of the strength of the tackle employed, 

 enabling the whalers to hunt the larger kinds, which naturally yield 

 more oil and other products than the comparatively small Humpback. 

 The whaling industry thus depends at present almost entirely on the 

 Fin Whale and the Blue Whale. It is noteworthy that the Fin 

 Whale, of intermediate size, first rose to prominence on the decline 

 of the Humpback ; but tlio gigantic Blue Whale has aow surpassed 

 it and has become the favourite object of the whalers' pursuit. 



