Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-05-07
OCEAN CABLE NABS WHALE.
Catches Huge Beast In South Atlantic
Waters.

In November last, says New York
letter, an officer Of the Central and
South American Telegraph company
called on the director of the New
York aquarium with a letter from the
electrical engineer of the company,
who desired to know to what depth
a whale could descend and whether
an air breathing mammal could stand
a water pressure of nearly half a ton
to the square inch.
These inquiries were prompted by
an interruption of the submarine ca
BILE between Iquique and Valparaiso
Chile, which occurred on August IA
last, and which was caused by large
whale that was afterward drawn to
the surface by the repair steamer
Faraday from a depth of 400 fathoms.
Societys Bulletin for April, an aquar-
ium number. from which the above
facts are taken, continues:
The cable in which the whale was
entangled weighed in the air, while
wet, LIS tons per nautical mile, and
had a breaking strain of sos tons.
The cables weight in salt water was
1,005 tons per nautical mile.
If the whale came to the surface to
blow, he must have held two or three
miles Of cable in suspension. This
however, is unlikely, since 1t had four
turns Of the cable around its body, one
being in its mouth.
When the trouble with the cable
was discovered, tests from Valparaiso
and Iquique placed the break about
thirteen miles from the latter place.
On August 16, the Faraday left Iqui-
que for the position of the break and
commenced graphing in 342 fathoms,
with 500 fathoms Of rope out.
The cable was hove up, cut and
tested to Iquique.. The end was buoy
ed, and the ship graphing further out,
picked up the cable which came in
badly twisted and with increasing
strain.
A large whale was brought to the
surface completely entangled in the
cable. The stencil being uncomfortable,
the cable was cut close to the whale
and the vessel moved to the windward.
Tests were made and Valparaiso spo-
ken. The ship made four soundings
in the vicinity which showed depth
of AIS fathoms (2,490 feet. nearly one
half mile)
1t is extremely doubtful whether an
air breathing animal can go as deep
as 400 fathoms and as that depth Is
much below the limit of pelagic life,
on which most whales feed, it is no,
likely that the whale would penetrate
such a depth. Total darkness, more
over prevails in depths of 400 faith
! oms. According to the records of
whalemen, whales have been known
to stay under water over an hour and
after being harpooned to have carried
out mile of line before reappearing
at the surface, although this does not
necessarily mean that the line was
carried down vertically.
The alparaiso-Iquique cable was
laid on January 81, 1906. At first sight
it seems unlikely that the whale en-
tangled in this cable could have re-
main eight months without complete
disintegration or being gradually con-
sumed by small forms of life on the
bottom.
The deep sea, however, is intensely
cold. the temperature being close to
the freezing point of fresh water, and
the carcass unless actively attacked
by bottom life, might be expected to
last longer than in the warmer sur
face waters.
Since, from what we know of air.
breathing animals, it is unlikely that
the whale would descend 400 fathomS
of its own accord, and as a deep sea
cable is not laid very slack, it is
doubtful that the whale could have
fouled it at the bottom.
The logical conclusion is that it be-
came cntangled during the laying of
the cable, eight months before, when
there was a considerable suspension.
The twisted condition of the stiff and
heavy cable about the animal shows
that the energy expended in the vain
efforts to free itself must have been
enormous.