The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1922-09-09
lAhDLUBBER ON A WHALE HUNT N THE ARCnC|
HE Thrills That Come to a "Creenhorn" in Captur-
ing Giants of the Deep


OF the Hermon below us.
l started down from the dizzy
neight OF the crows nest at he ice
specked waters of the Arctic Ocean
on a surface that resembled an ir-
regular checkerboard Of black and
white. The white was the ice and
the black was the tarry. becalmed sea
where's the whale?" l demand
ed.
Captain c. T. Petersen glanced at
bis watch and pointed out across
the frozen waste that seemed more
desolate under the yellow glare of
the midnight sun. II was / a. m.
A tiny wisp of vapor was visible.
l could barely discern a huge black
shape.
Hes sounding" said the captain.
That means he blowing water out
OF his head. You see he sucks great
volumes of water into his mouth as
he moves along to get the small fish
that are in his curse and then he
blows the water OF. The fish catch
In the branch-like stalks, called
w~halebone. which are located in his
jaw"
1 had climbed to the crows nest
up the rope ladder with fear and
trepidation. A "tenderfoot" in the
Arctic has his troubles. Now I was
about to be rewarded by the sight of
a whale.
Earlier In the day we had sailed
into the far northern regions where
breeds the bowhead whale, the only
variety which pays in oil and bone
for the killing. An "oil slick on the
water which the captain said was due
to the presence of schools of jellynsh
or whale food" and the sight Of
"bowhead BIRDS. reputed to be pilots
of the whale, had informed the vet
eran whalers that they might expect
a blow" at any moment. This news
had sem me to the crows nest des-
pite a trembling of limbs and dryness
of the throat occasioned by the frail
supports.
On getting into the bowhead's
grazing grounds the engines had been
stilled and the sails hoisted. l could
not account for this because 1t cut
our speed in half.
Engine noises scare the whales
away" was the explanation. THE
whale has very acute hearing and IL
we went through here under steam
every bowhead in the country would
leave"
Looking down from the crows
nest / expected to see the crew gal
vanized into action. Instead. they
lounged about gazing out to sea.
Why didn't they launch the boats
and go after the whale?
The inevitable question of the
"greenhorn" brought a reply. The
explanation was simple enough. The
captain wanted to wait to see wheth-
or the big fish was travelling. He
knew that the second spout would
show almost 20 minutes after the
first one sighted. This is a peculiar
ity Of this type of whale. 1t comes
up from air, blows" and then goes
back down to come up in 20 minutes
for air again. Mariners can set their
watches by the whales movements.
IF he comes up quite a distance
from where we saw the first blow.
then I'll know he's travelling and
therer's no use going after him."
said Petersen. You see they go
pretty fast and get under the ice.
Boats can't catch them. But II he
is loafing around we have a chance"
Petersen snapped his watch shut.
Twenty minutes" he said. ad-
justing his binoculars. Keep your
eyes pealed."
The words were hardly out of his
mouth before a tiny geyser seemed
to shoot up from the sea not 100
yards from where we had first sight
ed the whale.
Quickly the captain pressed the
button and waved to the crew. He
had an electric bell system connect
ing the crows nest with the deck.
Better hurry and get down II you
want to go out in a boat" he said.
Two boats were being launched
when l reached the deck. l got In
that of Jim Lee. the second mate.
In this whaleboat, large and we'll
built, were the second mate. three
white sailors and Pete. the smelly,
fat-faced blubber-eating, skin-clad
native boy.
Most conspicuous of the equipment
was the bomb gun. 1t looked much
like an enormous shotgun but is so
heavy and kicks 81 hard that 1t re-
quires a strong man to handle 1t. 1t
expels an 18-inch-long brass bomb
filed with tonite and Is timed for six
seconds. 1t has a range Of 125 feet
only and Is thrown by the explosion
of a 10-gauge shotgun shell. The
six seconds permit 1t to enter far
into the carcass of the whale before
exploding.
The other weapon was the darting
gun with harpoon. This is thrown
into the whale at close range and
when the harpoon has penetrated
into the blubber far enough a trigger
is sprung and a bomb is set on which
blows a big hole in the creature. To
this harpoon is attached a line, gath
cred In buckets and which may be
paved out for many fathoms.
Silence was the order OF proceed
ure. Not even oars were used. The
sails on Lees boat and on the other
boat were raised and we set out on a
n~oiseless chase. Only b creaking
of the rigging broke the silence.
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