Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-07-08
WHALES DANGEROUS TO SHIPS
Collision Between Marine LeViathans
and Vessels often Occur.

The coast of southern California is
protected to a certain extent by the
islands off shore, says the Scientific
American. The group begins at
Santa Barbara, with San Miguel; then
come Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Ana
capa and farther out to sea, thirty
miles. San Nicolas. The next follow
ing south are Santa Barbara, Santa
Catalina, San Clement, and then, with
a break of seventy miles, the Corona
does. These islands are almost par
allel to the coast range, and constitute
virtually an out-to-sea coast range OF
mountains, which, in all probability
were thrust up at the time the coast
was formed, leaving deep depression
between them and the mainland.
This region of extremely deep
water is a famous roadway for whales,
several kinds being found there, feed
ing upon the vast school of jellyfshes
which are nearly always present. The
whale most common is the Califor-
mia 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 California coast in
what is virtually a great procession.
At this time the channel is the sport
ing ground for the huge animals and
nearly every steamer that crosses
sights a school, the scene forming
one Of the attractions Of the trip, as
the whales, far from being wild or
timid, evince a playful mood, or, in
cited by curiosity, come near the
steamer, affording the passengers a
near view of the largest of living ami
mails.
This social disposition has resulted
in several encounters between the
whales and the 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 log. Several of the men
were 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 flashing 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
It'll Ind nyho q
San Pedro which was at least eighty
feet in length The steamer was
blowing along at rate of twelve
miles an hour, when suddenly large
whale rose to spout directly 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 several people were
thrown from their feet. It was sup
posed that the vessel had struck a
sunken 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
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
ioI nd Vx1hn O
latter went out it left a marvellous
spectacle of the remains of one of the
largest living animals. Hundreds of
people visited the spot before it was
dismembered. A long wound told the
story of it's contact with the steamer,
Doubtless if the records of shipping
disasters were examined many in
stances would be found where yes
sells had crashed into whales with re-
suits fatal to the animals and more or
less injurious to the vessels. In this
connection a curious incident may
be related regarding the actions of a
school of whales at the Island of
Santa Rosa, Cal. The channel be-
tween this island is narrow and often
extremely rough, and during a storm
it was believed by those on the island
that the whales became demoralized,
as they deliberately ran ashore, and
the remarkable sight of five or six
large whales helpless on the sands
was observed. Their bones remained
for long time on what became known
as the whales graveyard.