The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-06-20
DANGEROUS OCEAN ROADWAY.
Where Whales Are Frequently Run
Into by Vessels Along the
California Coast.

The coast of southern California is
protected, to a certain extent, by the
islands off shore. The group begins
then come Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz,
Anacapa, and farther out to sea, 30
miles, San Nicolas. The next follow
ing south are Santa Barbara, Santa
Catalina, San Clement, and then with
a break of 20 miles the Coronadoes.
These islands are almost parallel to
the coast range and constitute vir-
tually an out-to-sea coast range of
mountains which, in all probability,
were thrust up at the time the coast
was formed, leaving a deep depres-
sion between them and the mainland,
writes Charles Frederick Holder, in
Scientific American.
This region of extremely deep wa
ter is a famous roadway for whales,
several kinds being found here feed
ing upon the vast schools of jelly
fishes which are nearly always pres
ent. The whale most common is the
California gray, which goes every
year to the shadows of the Gulf of
California to give birth to its young,
then moving north along the Califor-
MIA coast in what is virtually a great
procession. At this time the chan
mel is the sporting ground for the
huge animals, and nearly every
steamer that crosses sights "A school,
the scene forming one of the attrac-
tinnS IF he tVin he whales far
from being wild or timid, sometimes
evnce a playful mood, or, melted by
curiosity, come near the steamer, af-
fording the passengers a near view
of the largest of living animals.
This sociable disposition has re-
suited in several encounters between
the whales and vessels in which the
former have always come off second
best. Some years ago a steamer on
the trip from San Pedro to San Fran
cisco 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
the steamer for the moment came
to a standstill. 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 Santa 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 so feet
in length. The steamer was blowing
along at a rate of - miles an hour,
when suddenly large whale rose d.
rectly in front of her, placing itself
inadvertently across her bows, so
that the blow was struck fairly. The
shock created a sensation on board,
and the blow was so violent that sew
eral people were thrown from their
feet 1t was supposed that the vessel
had struck a sunken rock; she stopped
for a few seconds, trembled, then rose
about three feet, heeling slightly, then
resumed 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 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 specu-
lative fishermen to secure it. Finally
a heavy sea tossed it on the coast at
the resort of Redondo, where it was
hauled in at high tide, and when the
latter went out left marvellous spec
tacle of the remains of the largest of
living animals. Hundreds of people
visited the spot before it was dismem-
bered. \ long wound told the story
of its contact with the steamer, that
was wholly uninjured.
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 animal and more or less
injurious to the vessel. In this con-
nection curious incident may be re-
lated regarding the actions of school
of whales "a the island of Santa Rosa,
Cal. The channel between this island
is narrow and often extremely rough,
and during storm it was believed by
those on the island that the whales be-
came demoralized, as they deliberate
~ ran ashore. and the remarkable
sight of five or six large whales was
observed helpless on the sands. Their
bones remained for long time on
what became known as the whales
ora NeNa I'd