THE THRESHER AND THE WHALE.
[To THE EDITOR OF TEE "SPECTATOR"]
SIR,—The thresher (Alopecia: vu/pes) is a fish-eating shark with a feeble dentition, met with in tropical or temperate seas. That this shark should attack a whale at all seems very un- likely, that it should attack the Greenland whale (Baleen° mysticetus), which has an Arctic distribution, seems impossible. Captain Scoresby, who was a very experienced and successful whaler, has left us an excellent account of the Greenland whale. This great authority, while admitting the possibility, did not regard sharks as formidable enemies of the whale. He also relates that he never saw a shark attack a whale (Scoresby's Arctic Regions, Vol. I., p. 474). The late Captain David Gray, of Peterhead, commanded a whaler for over forty years, cap- turing 197 Greenland whales (all but a record in these latter days), some 500 bottle-nosed whales, and 168000 seals. The writer can vouch for the statement that Captain Gray never saw a Greenland whale being attacked 'by a shark, and I doubt very much if he ever heard a reliable account of such a thing.
A much more powerful and formidable animal than the thresher shark is the killer whale or grampus (Orca gladiator). This animal, which reaches a length of 301 t., has a very power- ful dentition and is known to prey on seals and porpoises. It may possibly attack the larger whales. The prominent dorsal fin of the male appearing above the water might itemistaken for the tail of a thresher shark. Speaking generally, the larger Ceta- ceans appear to be well able to hold their own against natural enemies—witness the numbers in which they until recently existed. The Greenland whale is a very timid animal and easily alarmed. Was it always so, or has 300 years of persecu- tion made it thus? All whales are not timid, and their behaviour is not that of animals which have many natural enemies. The bottle-nosed whale (Hypero8dtm) may be taken as a case in point. Previous to the year 1880 very few of these whales had been captured. In that year some thirty were killed, about the same number the following year, and several hundreds in 1882. After that a regular fishery was established. At firet these animals were entirely fearless and unsuspecting. The writer saw 157 killed in 1883 in the neighbourhood of Jan Mayen. A herd of these animals, eight to ten in number, would approach the ship, would swim round it and underneath it, and eventually, their ouriosity satisfied, lie motionless at the surface, sometimes only a few yards away. A whale 'boat lowered from the opposite aide of the veesel would then come round the bow or stern and one would be harpooned. Indeed, it was not always necessary to lower a boat, for on one occasion one of them was struck by a harpoon fired from one of the boats hanging in the "tackles." The bottle-nosed whale has been, I understand, continuously hunted since. It would be interesting to know if it is still as fearless and unsuspecting, or if it has become as timid and easily alarmed as the Green- land whale.
Unfortunately, the larger whales are not eo well able to hold their own against human enemies. Obliged to come to the surface to breathe, their very size makes them easily wen and affords their pursuers a large target. Although able to hear and see remarkably well while under water, their senses are not so acute while at the surface. It can now be understood how they can be approached and harpooned. Certain of the whales descend when harpooned—returning to the surface in an exhausted condition. The capture of these can be effected with the harpoon, whale-line and lance. Consequently the pursuit of these creatures has gone on for centuries and their number has been very greatly reduced. Examples are the Greenland whale, the Atlantic right whale and the sperm whale, all approaching extermination. Certain others—the "}inners" (Balaenopteridae), Instead of descending, move along at a rapid rate near the surface, quickly exhausting the line. Although equally easily approached and harpooned, the capture of these was difficult or impossible until recent years. The invention of the explosive harpoon about the year 1868 made their capture easy. The fin whale fishery has been prosecuted with great energy in recent years and vast numbers of these animals have been killed. At present Norwegian whalers are using British territory as bases, and are killing vast numbers of these huge animals in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters. It is very much to be feared that, unless legislation prevents it, history will repeat itself, and the fin whales will share the fate of the Greenland, the Atlantic, and the Sperm whale.—I am, Sir, he.,
ROBERT GRA Y .
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