The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-09-23
HUNTING THE PORPOISE.

Among the deniZens OF the great ST.
Lawrence River are not only the sal
mon and cod, but the giant white por-
poSe. otherwise called the beluga or
white whale. This is the enemy OF the
smaller fry to such an extent as to
lessen appreciably the harvest of the
sea for the riverside fsherfolk.
When it is stated that the meal OF
n full-grown porpoise. eighteen feet
long, is from one to three barrels of
fish. it can easily be understood what
destruction the countless thousands Of
them can accomplish. especially as
their numbers have materially in
creased in recent years. And they are
among the most difficult Of all the in
habitants of the deep to capture.
It has remained for n citizen OF Que
bee Province. Mr. Campbell MacNab.
of Bic to adopt 4 method Of taking
them that is apparently as successful
as it is simple. he found that the ce-
taCnans. while usually GrcglriouS, fre-
Quently hunted in pairs and that their
food was. as has been said, salmon,
cod and eels
Their way of securing meal was
70 rush up the mouth Of q river at
high tide, and at low tide crowd the
fish on the shoals In this manner
millions of the fnny tribe were de-
vOured. When the pOrpOises got A
school of salmon in shoal water. they
form a circle and then move toward the
centre. The salmon look into gaping
mouths on every hand. and i'm trying
To escape one throat they disappear
down another At times the salmon
seem to be parslyzed with fear and
make no effort u 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 II not for the great
weight and strength OF the animals.
The strongest nets strung across the
mouths of rivers after the porpolses
have swan up have failed 10 hold
them when they returned and the
best the hunters could do was 20 shoot
such as appeared on or near the sur
face
After experimenting for some time
Mr. MacNab hit upon his plan. which
is to place in the mouth of a river a
thin pole tied To- q stake In such a
way that Il will vibrstc with TIE cur
rent. making what might be called a
viordtory alarm. When a school OF
porpoises has gene M with the tide
the rod Is placed In position. with the
result that not a single ce.sce3n will
attempt 10 regain the sea with the re-
turn OF the tide. Rather than swim
near the dreaded shskin. r.d, they
will stay In the shallow water. wkere
thnv are easily shot.
The exact reason for this sensitive
ness TO vibration is a mystery. The
ear N the animal is said 20 be uEusu-
ally sensitive. and 1t may he that the
vibration causes pain. as 10 does to
mon. who when uader water csHnet
stand sound.
If. however. the inventor Of The plan
cannot explain the causes - is fair
ly sure OF the effect Net long since
he placed a rod In the Portneuf Riv-
or. below n shoai he has leased. where
he captured sixty-nine OF the ~
wieldy brutes. and although he cannot
always expect such luck rs this.
catches OF twenty or thirty are not
uncommon And as a porp0ise is
worth from $50 to $50 for its hide
which makes hn. leather. and Tor the
oil. the uew Industry bids fair to BE-