The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-05-24
RUNNING DOWN WHALES.
Collisions Between Them and Ships of
Frequent Occurrence.

Between the islands paralleling the
coast of Southern California and the
mainland there extends a deep channel
where several kinds of whales may be
found feeding on the vast schools OF
Jelly fishes which are nearly always
present. The whale most common IS
the California gray, which goes every
year to the shadows OF the Gulf OF
California to give birth to It's young,
then moving north along the Calltor-
MA coast in what is virtually a great
procession. At this time the. great
procession. At this time the channel
is the. sporting ground for the huge
animals. and nearly every steamer
that crosses sights a school, the
scenes forming one of the attractions
OF the trip, as the whales, far from
being wild or timid, sometimes eVlnce
playful mood, or, melted by curl
osity, come near the steamer, atfordlng
the passengers near view OF the
largest of living animals.
This social disposition has resulted
In several encounters between the
whales and vessels, in which the for
mer have always come Off second best.
Some years ago steamer ON the trip
from San Pedro to San francisco
struck some body, supposed at first to
be a log. Several of the men were
thrown to the deck; the wheel turned
over SO violently that the helmsman
was also thrown down, and steamer
for moment came to a standstlll. All
hands were called, the pumps sounded,
and as the mate ran aft he saw a
large whale lashing the water astern.
The vessel had struck it directly
back Of the right paddle and evidently
crushed it down, rising over it. This
whale drifted into San Catalina some
days later, and was towed into one OF
the little bays of the coast, where it
was cut up by the fishermen.
During the summer OF 1900 the
steamer Hermosa killed whale off
San Pedro, which was at least 80 feet
in length. The steamer was blowing
along at rate of IL miles an hour
when suddenly a large whale rose to
spout directly in front Of her, placing
itself inadvertently across the bows,
SO that the bow was struck fairly.
The shock created sensation on board,
and the blow was so violent that
several people were thrown from their
feet. 1t was supposed that the vessel
had struck rock; she stopped for a
few seconds, trembled, then rose about
three feet, heeling slightly, then re-
sumed her course, passing through a
mass of blood which colored the water,
showing that she had plunged into
some large animal. A dead whale
was sighted two or three days later,
and for several days, on account of
its size, it drifted up and down the
coast with the tide, defying the efforts
of speculative fishermen to secure it.
Finally heavy sea tossed it on the
coast at the resort of Redondo, where
it was hauled in high tide and when
the latter went out it left remarkable
spectacle in the remains of one of the
largest of living animals. A long
wound told the story of its contact
with the steamer.
Doubtless if the records of shipping
disasters were examined many in
stances would be found where vessels
had crashed into whales with results
fatal to the animals and more or less
injurious to the vessels.