Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-03-04
auMMiNe DOWN WHALES.

INC toaTt OF Sootb~IU Ihffls THia
Is protected. to certain extent. b.
the islands or shore. fhc gr,r, be
gins at santa barbara With San Mig
uel. ther come Santa Rosa. Santa
Cruz, Anacapa. ard farther out 10 sca
tlit,ty u,,iur. Sar Nicoias. Tho next
following sout,, are Santa Barbsra.
SANTA Catalina, San Clement. and
the Cotcn1does. These js'ipds nrc
almost parallel TO the coast range and
constitute virtually an -c,it.to.sca aos It
range of mountains which. in nll prob
ability. we're thrust up A. the lime the
coast was formed. leaving deep de.
preston between them and the main
lGnd
This region OF extremely deep wn-
ter is n great roadway for whales. sew
erai kinds being found here feeding
al on the vast schools OF Jelly tishes
which are nearly always present. The
whale most common In the CaiIfoi MIA
Vyay. which goes every year to the
shadows Of the Gulf of California To
give birth 10 It's young. then moving
north along tho California coast IN
whnt IL virtually great proeension.
At this time the enamel IL the sport.
Ing ground for the huge auimnls, and
nearly every steamer that crosses
sights school. the scene forming ono
OF the attractions of the trin. ms the
whales. far frc:n heing Wild or ,imid.
sometimes eyipce n playful moofs or
melted by curiosity. come near the
steamer. affording the passengers q
ear view OF the largest OF living ami
mails.
This sociabIe disposition has result
ed In several encounters between the
whales and vessels In which the form
or have always come on second best
Some yenIe ago n steamer on the
trip from San Pedro To san Francisco
struck some body. supposed To be n,
first log. Several OF tho men wern
thrown TO the deck the wheel turn
IAN was slao thrown Down, and the
steamer for the moment cuTne TO q
standstIii. All nnndg were called
the pumps sounded. and M the mat
run aft he saw large whale lashinf
the wator aHtern. The ycssel had
struck II directly back of the riehi
paddle and evidently crushed II DOWN
riaipg over II. Tho whale drifted In
To santa Catalina some days later ant
was towed into one Of the little bay.
af the coast whore II wag cut UP b,
the fishermen.
During the summer Of 1900 th'
steamer Icrmosa killed whale OF
Fan Pedro. which was at least 81
feet In length The steamer wa
piowing along at the rate of i2 mile
an hour when suddenly large wbal
rose to spout directly In front Of hc'
placing itself Inadvertently across he
bows, no that the blow was struc
fairly. Tho shock created n sonsi
lion on board and the blow was =
violent that several people wer
thrown from their feet. VI was SUI
posed that the vessel had struck
nnnkcn rock; she stopped for fe'
ncconds. trcmhlcd. then rose abou
three feet hecling slightly. then reann
cd her course. passing through n mas
OF blood which coiored the watol
showing that sha had plunged Int
loinc large animal A dend whni
was sighted two days afterwards an
for acvernl days on account Of II
iixe, II driftcd up and down the coas
with the tide, dcfying tho cftorts O
speculative fishermen TO secuie 4
Finally n heavy sea tossed II upon III
coast AZ the resort of Kutiondo, whcr
II WAS hauled IN nj high tide an
when the latter went ont left moi
vclous spectacle OF the romans OF on
of the largest living animals. Hun
drcds OF people visitcd the spot bcfcr
il was dismcmborcd. A lone woun,
told the story OF It's contact with III
steamer that was wholly uninjnred
Doubtless II tn" records OF thlppini
disasters were examined many inatan
ccs would be found where vessels ha,
crashed into whales with results fatu
10 the animal and more or less injufi
Gus 10 the vcssel In this connectio,
u curious Incident may be related re
gardine the actions OF school o
whales at the island OF Santa Rosa
California. The channel betweei
this islnnd liz narrow and often OK
tremciy rough. aud during u storm 4
was believed by those on the islant
that the whales became demoralized
M they deliberately ran ashore, ant
the remarkable sight of ave or 81,
large whales WAS observed helpless
on th. sands. Their bones remained
for long time on what became knowr
as the whales graveyard.
utcr hc p1gntrrrn