Translation 2783

216
CHAPTER 2 -
; CETACEA or THE roiniql Awurnic ALD
ADJA02,RT.WATEt:S OF
ARCTIC OC"..;AN
Large-scale whaling first began in thebe regions. Sailing
shiPs provided with special anal]. boats (whale-boatfor • nunting
whales ventured constantly.farther and farther into tue open ocean .
in search of concentrations of 'the•animals
ln spite of their prim-
itive equipment, the whalers almost completely exterminated right
whales in tac ....Jay of 1)iscay, around spitzbergen, and in tne Lewfoundland
region.
The taking of one or two whales repaid tnem for all the
expenditure connected with the Outfitting of a ship.
In the middle of the 19th century the whaling industry began
to die out as a result of shortage of whales and .
demand for oil from sperm whales.
of. a decline in the
The stocks of rorquals had not been
affected by the slaughter; but these whales, unlike right whales and
sperm whales, sank after being killed.
The whaling industry revived
, after the invention by 8vend Foyn of a harpoon-gun for killing whales
and a compressor for inflating the body with air, which gave it buoyancy
and made it possible to-tow it to a processing'station on,shore..k
After a number of improvements, tac first Whaling ship with
a:harpoon-gun and a compressor (the Spes et Fides.), under the command
of Svend Ëoyn, killeu its first 30 whales in 18-78. From 1868 to 1969
a total of 2,194,271 whales were killed in ail the wo.rids oceans,
• including 1,315,553 in the Antarctic Ocean.
Soon, however, various restrictions began to be imposed on the killing
of whales, as a consequence - of decrease in their numbers.
Pelagic whaling beban in tue same regions. The whaling crews
began cutting. up whale carcasses'at the ship's side, witn subsequent
processing of the bluliCer directly on board in the open sea.
It was
mainly fin whales that were taken, and mucn les s often humc-back •
whales and etner .Palaenouteridae, and also sperm whales. That activity
continued. until 1';')7, When for the last time two whaling snips
.of that type put out to.sea. In 19e9 iii was carried on from ten
shore stations, On which 1( whaling ships wore pased, 'whereas in 1910
and 1912 %nor° were from 25 .to.2 -9 stations and from 65 to 75 whaling
chips. In recent Years tle quarry of wnalers uns ueen mostly fin
- whales .ova ,cotia, .celand, and lartlY orway) and
tu scnAain reloht: soi whalso. Uova oestin)
spom whalus (jeoland,