The Tupelo journal., 1904-09-16
HUNTING THE PoRPoISE.
Most Voracious and Difficult Of All
Denizens Of the Deep to
Capture.

Among the deD1ZenS OF the great 81.
Lawrence river are not only the salmon
and the cod, but the giant white por>
pOise, otherwise called the beluga or
white whale. This is the enemy of the
en- appreciably the harvest of the sea for
the riverside isherfolk, writes Frank
Weigh, in Youths Companion.
When it is stated that the meal of a
full-grown porpoise, Is feet long, is from
n to three barrels of fish, it can easily
be understood what destruction the
countless thousands of them can accom-
plish, especially as their numbers have
materially increased in recent years.
And they are among the most difficult
Of all the inhabitants of the deep to cap
ture.
1t has remained for a citizen of Quebec
Province, Mr.. Campbell MacNab, of Bic,
to adopt a method of taking them that
is apparently as successful as it is sim
pie. He found that the cetaceans, while
usually gregarious, frequently hunted
pairs, and hat their food was. as has
been said, salmon, cod and cells.
Their way of securing a meal was to
rush up the mouth of a river at high tide,
and at low tide crowd the fish on the
shoals. In this manner millions of the
finny tribe were devoured. When the
porpoises get a school Of salmon in
shoal water, they form a circle and then
toward the center. The salmon
look into gaping mouths on every hand,
and in trying to escape one throat they
disappear down another. At times the
salmon seem to be paralyzed with fear
and make no effort to escape, but calmly
accept their fate as food for ~porpoises
instead of people.
1t would be easy to play the same trick
on the porpoise that it plays on the
salmon were it not for the great
weight and strength of the animals.
The strongest nets strung across the
mouths of rivers after the porpoises
have swum up have failed to hold them
when they returned, and the best the
hunters could do was to shoot such
as appeared on or neal the surface.
After experimenting for some time,
Mr.. MacNab hit upon his plan, which
is to place in the mouth of a liver a
thin pole tied to a stake in such a way
that it will vibrate with the current,
making what might be called a vibra-
tory alarm. When a school of porpoises
has gone up with the tide the rod is
placed in position, with the result that
not a single cetacean will attempt TO
regain the sea with the return of the
tide. Rather than swim neal the dread
ed shaking rod, they will stay in the
shallow water. where they are easily
shot.
The exact reason for this sensitive
ness to vibration is a mystery. The ear
of the animal is said to be unusually
sensitive, and 1t may be that the vibra-
ton causes pain, as it does to men. who
when under water cannot stand sound.
If, however. the inventor of the plan
cannot explain the causes, he is fairly
sure of the effect. Not long since he
placed a rod in the Portneuf river, be-
low a shoal he has leased. where he
captured 60 of the unwieldy brutes;
and although he cannot always expect
such luck as this, catches of 90 or 30
are not uncommon. And as a porpoise
is worth from $50 to $50 for its hide,
which makes fine leather. and for the
oil, the new industry bids fair to be
a profitable one. besides helping to rid
the st. Lawrence of a scourge of long
standing.