APPENDICES.
TABLE I.
163
Comparison of the amounts of oil estimated (from the description of the catches) to be the yield which could be reasonably expected from the whales killed at South Georgia in each of the seasons 1909-10, 1910-11, 1911-12, 1912-13, and 1913-14, with the amounts of oil stated by the Stipendiary Magistrate, in his reports, as having been actually obtained.
Whales.
1909-1910.
1910-1911.
Centon.
1911-1912,
1912-1918.
1913-1914.
It is
To the figures for South Georgia must be added those whales taken after 31st March, 1913. Mr. Salvesen says that about 5,000 whales were killed here between 1st November, 1912, and the end of April, 1913, and that of these about 42 per cent., or 2,100, were finners, and 6 per cent., or 300, were blue whales.. obvious, therefore, that a considerable number of both species must have been killed at this Dependency in April, 1913. Moreover, the chase for finners and blue whales is continued with some success throughout the entire year at South Georgia. We shall, I think, under-, rather than over-estimate the total catch for the year 1912-13 (October to end of September) in the Falkland Islands and its Dependencies at 5,000 finners and 3,000 blue whales.
Finners and blue whales (particularly the latter) are far more active and wary than are humpbacks. If the whalers were to confine their attentions to the adults of these species, i.e., in the South Atlantic to finners of more than 60 ft. in length, and to blue whales of more than 80 ft. in length, I do not think that they could succeed in killing such a number as would bring either species to the verge of extinc- tion within a few years. But the facts presented below show that certain of the whalers are making a systematic attack upon adolescent finners and sexually imma- ture blue whales. These younger whales are probably much easier to kill, and they are certainly far more easy to handle with tackle which was designed for the This slaughter of the purpose of dealing with the relatively small humpback. immature is, in my opinion, a very serious thing; should this practice be persisted in and should it become general among the whalers I think that both finners and blue whales will be quickly reduced, and there will then be an end of the whaling industry of the South Atlantic-
In order to prove that some of the whalers at South Georgia, and perhaps elsewhere, are making a serious effort to compensate the default of the humpbacks by killing young finners and blue whales, it is necessary to compare the yield of oil actually obtained from the whales killed with the amount which the whales in question would have yielded had they been of fair growth and in average condition. Evidence confirmatory of the results of the comparison just described is to be found in the reports on the whales killed in 1913-14 made by the whalers and sent to the British Museum; these reports are dealt with later.
In his recent paper, cited above, Mr. Salvesen states that, in southern latitudes, a right whale, full-grown and in good condition, will yield from 80 to 70 barrels of oil: the blue whale yields an average of from 70 to 80 barrels; the finner from 35 to 50 barrels; the "seihva!" from 10 to 15 barrels; the humpback from 25 to 35 barrels; while the sperm whale yields about 60 barrels, of which 30 (consisting of spermaceti and sperm oil) come from the head, the remainder from the body. In my estimates I have taken the mean of these figures for each species as repre- senting the average yield of oil per whale; that is to say I have allowed for each :—
Right whale, a yield of 65 barrels of oil.
Blue whale, a vield of 75 barrels of oil. Finner, a yield of 42.5 barrels of oil. "Seihval," a yield of 12 barrels of oil. Humpback, a yield of 30 barrels of oil. Sperm whale, a yield of 60 barrels of oil.
Humpbacks Finners
Blue whales Sei whales
Right whales Sperm whales
Total ... Actual Yield
Estimated yield ex- ceeds actual yield by
Actual yield exceeds estimated yield by
Estimated yield Actual yield
Number Killed.
Estimated Yield in Barrels.
Kstimated Namber Yield in
Killed.
Barrola.
Number Killed.
Estimated Yield in Barrels.
Estimated
Estimated
Number Yield in
Killed.
Barrels.
Number Yield in
Killed.
Barrels
8,891 101,730 5,299 158,970 5,100 153,000 2,251
ND
67,580 474
14,220
58
2,465
26
1,950
97 76
4,120 5,700
299 208
12,700 1,724 15,600
78,300 1,417
60,200
212
651 15,900
48,900
90
1,080
37
2,400 240
49 1
3,185
71
3
4,615 ! 180
130 420
63 4,100 15
900
3,516 108,785 5,521 171,975 5,681 186,095
100,316
4,196 | 157,280 2,710 129,400
150,457
172,318
J
126,457
8,469
100
92.5
1
=
||
21,518
T
100
87.5
1
| 1
TABLE II.
13, 777
1
1
100
92.5
I
161,852
4,572
2,943
100
103
11
890
1:00
98
Comparison of the amount of oil estimated (from the description of the catches) to be the yield which could be reasonably expected from the whales killed by each company at South Georgia during the season of 1911-12 with the amount of oil stated by the Stipendiary Magistrate to have been actually produced by each com- pany during the said season.
Company.
South Georgia Co.
Tönsberg Co.
Bandefjord Co.
Cia. Argentina.
Ocean Co.
Whales.
Humpbacks Finners
Blue whales
|
Estimated
Estimated Estimated
Estimated Number. Yield in Number. Yield in Number. Yield in Number. Yield in Number, Yield in
Barrels. Barrela Barrels. Barrels.
Estimated
Barrela
1,101
33,030
53
2,250
75422,620 31 1,315
12
900
79
5,920
768 34 415
1,445 3,370
23,0401,20638,180
122 37
531
15,930
5,180
2,770
382 225
Right whales
12
780
27 1,755
10
650
16 1,040
65
Sperm whales
2
120
60
Total
1,180
Actual yield
37,080 33,180
891 31,610
29,175*
857
28,505 1,382 45,230 23,700
544
42,061 †
16,602 19,372
Estimate exceeds
return by Return
3,900
2,435
4,805
3,169
exceeds estimate by Estimate
|
100
100
100
Return
89-5
92.3
83.1
2,770
100
100
93
116.5
Condor."
28,700 plus 475 barrels obtained for them by the floating-factory "' Vik." + 86,401 plus 5,600 barrels obtained for them by the floating-factory
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
2། །། ། །
Reference :-
MC.O. 885
23 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
104
Humpbacks Finners
Blue whales
Right whales
APPENDICES,
TABLE II. (continued).
Company.
Whales.
Bryde and Dubl.
Southern Whaling and Sealing Co.
Estimated Yield
Number.
Number.
in Barrels.
Estimated Yield in Barrels
Total
Actual yield
Estimate exceeds return by ..... Return exceeds estimate by... Estimate
Return
1
628
18,840
112
3,360
42
1,785
8
340
18
1,350
14
3
195
2
1,050 130
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