The Zoologist/4th series, vol 2 (1898)/Issue 680/Notes on the Seal and Whale Fishery, 1897

by Thomas Southwell

 

NOTES ON THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY, 1897.

 

By Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S.

 

The take of Seals by the Newfoundland steam sealers in the past season has been the smallest it has fallen to my lot to record in the seventeen years over which my notes have extended, and that notwithstanding the exceptional success of two of the vessels. The twenty ships, of the aggregate capacity of 6232 tons, and manned by 4572 seamen, captured only 126,628 Seals, of the net value of £32,564, as compared with 187,516 Seals, valued at £55,362, in the previous season, itself a very disastrous one. In addition to these about 22,000 were got by the schooners, but the catch is said to have been the worst for eighty years, with the exception of that of 1864. The 'Aurora' heads the list with 27,941, followed by the 'Iceland' (23,014), and the 'Newfoundland' (15,102). These are the only three vessels which exceeded 15,000 Seals. Two others—the 'Nimrod,' with 14,042, and the 'Harlaw,' with 11,614—exceeded 10,000 each; but the remaining fifteen vessels only averaged 2327 each. The 'Mastaff' had the misfortune to be jammed in the ice inside Cape Ray, and only secured 264 Seals. The 'Iceland' and the 'Nimrod' made second trips for 939 and 453 Seals respectively.

The failure of the voyage appears to be due to a variety of causes, the chief of which perhaps was the prevalence of stormy weather, and the consequent unfavourable condition of the ice. It is also thought that the Seals are not so numerous as formerly, but with regard to this there is considerable divergence of opinion; also that the young Harps took to the water earlier than usual this season, owing to the disruption of the ice. There is no doubt, however, that with two or three exceptions the steamers sought the Seals too far to the north. Formerly the sealing steamers all cleared from St. John's, but of late years they have in increasing numbers been taking their departure from more northerly ports; the wisdom of this course appears to be open to doubt, and some of the most experienced sealers still continue to make the port of St. John's their point of departure. Should the vessel strike the ice to the north of the breeding Seals, there is nothing to form a guide to the position of the pack; but on the other hand, should it be too far south, there is nearly always some indication which points to that fact, such as the presence of birds or old Seals. There appears also to be a natural inclination to work to the north in search of the Seals rather than to the south. It happened this year that the fierce gales from the N. and N.W., which prevailed from the 1st to the 20th of March, drove the ice on which the young Seals were then, well off the land, rapidly south to the neighbourhood of Cape Race, and thus they were missed by the majority of the vessels.

As affording some indication of the severity of the season, and of the hardships endured by the crews, I will give a brief outline of the voyage of the 'Aurora,' as reported by Captain Arthur Jackman, one of the most experienced of the commanders. Leaving St. John's on March 10th, the 'Aurora' struck the Seals on the 15th, about 150 miles off Cabot Island, and on that day and the 16th the crew killed 24,000 Seals. On the 17th, while the men were on the ice, "a terrible swell began to heave among the ice, smashing it up, and leaving the men battling for their lives on the floating pans; it was with the utmost difficulty they were got on board." From March 17th to April 7th the crew were engaged in picking up Seals at the risk of their lives, the ship often rolling rail-under; the result was that out of some 60,000 Seals killed only 27,900, nearly all young Harps, were recovered. The 'Aurora' then bore up for home, being at that time about 390 miles S.E. of Cape Race. Capt. Jackman never remembers Seals being taken so far south. Some conception of the terrible hardships and dangers of the voyage may be formed from the fact that four of the crew succumbed to cold and fatigue, and the report states that as many as one hundred men (out of a crew of 298) were laid up at one time with colds. The 'Terra Nova' also lost one of her crew. The 'Iceland,' which went to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is said to have made the quickest trip on record; she struck the Seals off Rose Blanche, and commenced to kill on March 15th, reaching Harbour Grace, on her return, with 22,000 young Harps, on the 23rd. The 'Harlaw' made her catch of 11,600 in the neighbourhood of Cape Ray.

In a paper on "Seals and the Seal Fishery," printed in the 'Transactions' of the Norfolk and Norwich Nat. Soc. vol. iii. p. 482, as well as in my Notes for 1884, I explained the nature of the practice known as "panning" or "binging," and pointed out its wasteful character; this was perhaps never more fully exemplified than in the past season. The 'Nimrod' lost nine pans of Seals through the ice, under stress of weather, suddenly breaking up; one lot of 250 she recovered eighteen miles distant from the flag which marked their original position. The 'Aurora,' as already mentioned, is said to have killed 60,000 Seals for the 27,000 she brought home, having lost sixty-four flagged pans through the ice being ground up and turned over by the heavy swell. Surely some less wasteful method of securing a cargo could be devised; and in the interest of the future would it not be to the advantage of the sealers themselves that no more Seals should be killed than could at once be taken on board? This destructive practice of killing and panning all the young Seals within reach and leaving it to chance to recover them must before long lead to the most disastrous consequences, and it is not to be wondered at that the shore sealers, whose catch in the past season has been nil, should complain of this shocking waste. The large number of young Harps (see 'Aurora' and 'Iceland') taken so early in the season is unusual, and is probably owing to the disturbed state of the ice, the immense sheets on which they are whelped not usually breaking up so as to allow the Seals to be approached until the young ones are able to take to the water. 106,678 of the total catch were young Harps, an unusually large proportion; 2188 were young Hoods; 11,133 were "Bedlamers," or young Seals of the second or third season which had not yet bred; and only 6629 old Seals of both species.

Some of the old sealing captains are men of great intelligence and wide experience, and their interest leads them to appreciate minute differences in the appearance and habits of the Seals which to a casual observer would pass unnoticed. One of these veterans, in conversation with Mr. Thorburn, after alluding to the two "spots" of Hooded Seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, stated that the Seals in the western patch whelp about a week earlier than those in the eastern patch; also that the females in the former are much larger than in the latter, and that the reverse is the case with regard to the males. The western patch is found in the neighbourhood of St. Paul's Island, and the other considerably to the eastward. He also confirms the statement that there are two distinct patches of Harp Seals, one whelping inside St. Paul's Island (see Notes for 1896, Zool. 1897, p. 57), and that a similar disparity in weight exists as is observed in the case of the Hoods, the old Saddlers in the one patch exceeding in weight those in the other by an average of about 25 lb. Referring to a summer which he once spent on the island of Anticosti, he mentioned having met there with a large dark-coloured Seal, one of which he shot, "larger than a Hooded Seal, and with a head like a horse or cow," and which, he said, frequents that island during the summer.

None of the Dundee vessels were present at the Greenland young sealing, and the captures in Newfoundland by the 'Esquimaux' (1903) and 'Terra Nova' (3501) represent all the Seals taken by the Scotch vessels, with the exception of a few old Seals, some 400 in all, taken in Greenland by the 'Active' and 'Polar Star.' The 'Alert' brought home from the settlement in Cumberland Gulf, with other produce, 4700 Seal skins and seventy tons of Seal and Whale oil. I do not receive statistics of the Norwegian sealing in the Greenland Seas, but Prof. Collett has kindly informed me that in 1893 about 100,000 were killed, some 20,000 of which were old Seals, and the rest young Harps and Hooded Seals; in 1894 the number was not quite 100,000, 9000 old and the rest young and Hooded; in 1895 rather less than 80,000, of which 9000 were old; and in 1896 between 90,000 and 100,000, 11,000 of which were old Seals. This branch of the sealing trade has quite reverted to the Scandinavians; the same may be said of the Bottle-nose fishery, no Scotch vessels having taken part in it for the last few years. It seems, however, to be successfully prosecuted by the Norwegians, and Prof. Collett tells me that in 1893 they killed 2701; in 1894, 2905; in 1895, 2872; and in 1896, 3301. The figures for 1897 are not yet available.

The Greenland whaling, for reasons which will be fully explained further on, was a complete failure; only one Whale was captured, and one other seen. The condition of the ice in the North Atlantic has been the most remarkable on record, and it happens that an unusual number of observers were present to report on its phenomenal absence which has characterized this very exceptional season. In my Notes for the year 1887, I mentioned that Capt. David Gray's experience led him to the conclusion that there is a certain periodicity in the movements of the ice in the Greenland Seas, the eastern or western limit of its margin reaching its maximum about every five years alternately; so that every tenth year may be expected to produce an "east-ice year," and vice versâ. The year 1881 was an "east-ice year," that is, the ice extended far to the eastward from the east coast of Greenland. Capt. Gray, in a communication published in the Proc. Roy. Geo. Soc. for 1881, p. 740, with map, recorded this remarkable eastward extension of the ice, and made some remarks with regard to its probable cause. The year 1886 was so far a "west-ice year," the ice being close packed on the east coast of Greenland (that is, on the west side of the Greenland Sea) that there was no hope of penetrating it in search of Whales; Capt. Gray therefore, ever willing to add exploration to his legitimate business when possible, attempted unsuccessfully to visit Franz Josef Land, but met with very little obstruction until he reached 36° 44' E. longitude, in the parallel of 75° (Dr. Robert Gray, Zool. 1887, p. 124). It was not till the next year (1887), however, that the ice receded to its farthest west. In 1891 there was again an enormous accumulation of ice off the east coast of Greenland, extending far away to the eastward. According to Capt. Gray's theory, therefore, the year 1897 should be a maximum "west-ice year," and such has been the case to a remarkable extent; where in 1881 Capt. Gray forced his way three hundred miles through floe-ice into the Spitzbergen land water, in the past season the Greenland whalers encountered no obstruction, and the 'Balæna' found no difficulty in passing round the south of Spitzbergen through the Barents Sea to Franz Josef Land, where she cruised amongst the islands of the archipelago, and hunted Walruses in lat. 81° N., accompanied by the 'Active' and the 'Diana.'

All the reports which we have from the eastern polar seas this season, and they have been unusually numerous, extending over a wide area—the Dundee whalers in the Greenland and Barents Seas, and afterwards to the west of Franz Josef Land, where Mr. Jackson confirms their report that very little difficulty was experienced from ice up to the 80th parallel; Mr. Arnold Pike and the captain of the 'Balæna' to the east of Spitzbergen and Wyche's Land; and Colonel Feilden to the eastward of Novaya Zemyla and the Kara Sea;—all bear testimony to the remarkable absence of ice. The causes which contribute to bring about these extensive variations in the limits of what may be regarded as the polar ice fringe are too complicated for me to attempt any explanation here, even were I at all competent to do so (Capt. Gray offers some very pertinent suggestions in the paper before quoted), but, confining my remarks to the Greenland Seas, there can be no doubt the chief cause of the recent packing of the ice on the east coast of Greenland was the long prevalence of E. and N.E. gales. The 'Balæna' reports that she reached the N.E. fishing grounds about the end of April, and experienced there the worst weather on record.

On May 1st, following a few days of mild foggy weather, there came a succession of N.E. gales, which lasted till the middle of the month, and forced the vessels to seek partial shelter in the pack-ice. This "blizzard" was followed by strong easterly winds; gale succeeded gale until June 20th, and the severity of the weather is described as exceeding anything within the memory of the oldest man in the fleet. The result of this state of things was that the ice became "hammered" against the east coast of Greenland, and was so compacted, that where in ordinary years a belt exists extending seaward from 150 to 200 miles, with open floes such as the Whales love to frequent, in the past season it did not reach more than fifty miles from the shore, and was packed so tight as to be perfectly impenetrable. This condition of the ice was of course fatal to the fishery, as the vessels were unable to search for the Whales in their favourite feeding grounds; and it was not till May 29th that a fish was found. This the 'Balæna' was fortunate enough to capture, and the only other Whale seen in the Greenland Seas during the entire season was sighted about the middle of June, but could not be approached.

There being no prospect of success in the Greenland waters, the fleet, consisting of the 'Active,' the 'Balæna,' and the 'Diana,' had to look elsewhere for a cargo; and the glowing reports of the great abundance of Walruses observed on the shores of Franz Josef Land by Mr. Leigh Smith, Dr. Nansen, and Mr. Jackson, as might be expected, attracted them in that direction, and they took their departure for this new hunting ground on June 25tb. The 'Balæna' was the first to arrive, sighting Cape Flora after a twelve days' passage, and she made a clean sweep of the coast, killing 600 Walruses, and leaving little or nothing for those which followed, the 'Active' only securing seventy and the 'Diana' eighty-four. Great was their disappointment, as they expected to find something approaching the numbers seen by Mr. Lamont on the Thousand Islands in 1852, where a herd of three or four thousand was seen, and nine hundred killed by two small sloops, a sight which will probably never again be witnessed. To add to the disappointment, almost all those met with were females and young, and a few young bulls; it was evidently the nursery of the species. Where the old bulls were was not discovered, but the females and their young were exterminated. In the Greenland Seas the Walrus has already become a rare animal, in Davis Strait it is rapidly becoming scarce, and the enormous numbers which formerly inhabited Behring's Strait are subject to such exhaustive demands that they cannot long survive. When we take into consideration the ease with which these animals can be approached, and their slow rate of reproduction, it is safe to predict that the time is not far distant when the species will become totally extinct. It is curious how a new industry may affect the very existence of an old species. I am told that the greater activity in the search for Walruses is due to the sudden demand which has arisen for their hides, which are extensively used by the makers of bicycles for forming buffers; their value has greatly increased in consequence, and good thick bull-hides weighing 350 lb. and upwards sell for as much as Is. 6d. per lb. The hides brought home this year from Franz Josef Land being those of females and young animals, therefore thin and of light weight, did not realize anything like this price, some being worth as little as 2½d. per lb. The tusks, I am told, realize about 2s. 6d. per lb., and the oil £18 per ton.

In marked contrast to the Greenland fishery, that of Davis Strait has been a decided success, and the number of Whales seen was considerable. Three Scotch vessels, the 'Eclipse,' the 'Esquimaux,' and the 'Nova Zembla,' were present. Capt. Milne, of the 'Eclipse,' reports that from the middle of September till the middle of October Whales were very plentiful, and that he never saw so many during all his experience. Leaving Dundee on March 30th, he experienced a long and stormy passage, arriving in Davis Strait too late for the north-west and east side fishery. Disco was reached on May 28th, and the passage through Melville Bay presented no difficulties. The west side of the Strait was reached on June 15th, on which day the first Whale was seen. On the following day a large number of fish were seen, and one struck but lost; and a second also broke away. On the 20th, however, a good fish was secured. In Lancaster Sound the three Dundee vessels were caught in a heavy gale and beset for a week. About Oct. 8th a great many Whales were sighted, twenty miles off Cape Kater, but owing to heavy seas and unsettled weather more than one was missed; and on the 13th so rough was the weather that a large fish which had been got alongside broke adrift and was lost. On the 16th, however, they were more fortunate, and secured a fine fish of 11 ft. 4 in. bone, but not till after an exciting experience—by a stroke of the Whale's tail one of the boats was upset and her crew of six men thrown into the water. Fortunately all were rescued, but not till one of them was in a very exhausted condition. Many more Whales were seen by the 'Eclipse' near Hopper Island, and one taken; had she not had the misfortune to lose five Whales owing to stormy weather, doubtless the 'Eclipse' would have returned a full ship; as it was she had three good Whales and three Walrus. The 'Nova Zembla' succeeded in capturing four Whales; her experience was much the same as that of the 'Eclipse.' Many Whales were seen in the longitude of Cape Warrander, Pond's Inlet, Coutts Inlet, and in the vicinity of Clyde River. The 'Esquimaux,' which had been to the Newfoundland sealing, sailed from Cape Breton on May 20th, and took her only fish in Pond's Bay on June 16th. Although in her autumn passage down the west side of the Strait several other Whales were seen, the weather conditions rendered their pursuit impossible; in fact, it was the prevalence of untoward weather, not the absence of Whales, which prevented their returning all "full ships." All three vessels bore up for home about Oct. 27th.

The total produce of the Whale fishery in the past season was 9 Right Whales and 772 Walruses, yielding 143 tons of Whale oil and 120 cwt. of bone. In addition to this the 'Alert' brought home from Cumberland Gulf station 3 cwt. of bone, the yield of a very small Whale of 4 foot bone, and 70 tons of oil, part of last season's catch; and the 'Perseverance,' which had wintered for three seasons at Rowe's Welcome, had the bone of three Whales (30 cwt.), and part of the oil (15 tons), the rest of the blubber having been lost. During her stay in Rowe's Welcome the 'Perseverance' got six Whales, the produce of the other three having been previously sent home by the Hudson Bay Company's ship 'Erik.' It is rather difficult to value this miscellaneous produce; but, taking the 228 tons of Whale oil at £18 per ton, or £4104, and the 153 cwt. of bone at £1600 per ton ("size bone," I am told, has been sold at £1800 per ton) or £12,240; the 772 Walrus hides at, say, £5 each, or £3860; and the ivory, which was light and mostly female tusks, at, say, £200, the total produce would represent a sum of about £20,404, as compared with £16,207 in the previous season.

The Norwegian Fin-Whale fishery, Prof. Collett tells me, is still flourishing, and several of the companies have also established themselves on one of the Faroes, where they are doing well. The Whales taken last year were for the most part Balænoptera borealis; also several B. sibbaldii and B. megaptera; but commonly B. musculus is the most numerous. The Cabot Whale-fishing Company, formed at St. John's to prosecute the Fin-Whale fishery after the Norwegian fashion mentioned in my last year's communication (p. 59), has not yet commenced operations, but is expected to do so shortly.

In my last notes on this subject (Zool. 1897), p. 58, fourteen lines from the bottom, for 'Arctic,' read 'Active.'

As on so many previous occasions, I have to tender my best thanks to Mr. David Bruce and Mr. Kennes of Dundee, and to Mr. Michael Thorburn, of St. John's, for their kind assistance.