Science and facts about whales and whaling

[AvastMH]

Please feel welcome to post science articles and facts about whales and whaling here. You could also post in the Chat room at the Dockside Cafe.

[AvastMH]

Humpback whales use their flippers and bubble 'nets' to catch fish

[AvastMH]

Humpback whales use their flippers and bubble 'nets' to catch fish

Thanks for this Randi
Great pictures - it's so rare to see the aerial view of those bubble nets, but the scooping-fish action of their flippers is new to me. Makes a great deal of sense when you need to eat as much as they do every day.

[AvastMH]

Hello All
Today I became the proud owner of 'Chasing the Bowhead' written by Hartson H. Bodfish. I has a dedication to Barbara Loomis at the start which is given, and written, by Bodfish. I know her name but cannot think why. She was an archaeologist: https://www.islapedia.com/index.php?tit ... _Helen_Lee
It is Bodfish's story of his life as a whaler and promises some interesting reading. I hope to be able to find some fascinating details about whaling, especially given that it was Bodfish who first proposed over-wintering in the Arctic in order to get an early run on the fishing the following year.

[AvastMH]

[AvastMH]

From Mr Bodfish, 'Chasing the Bowhead' (Bodfish pops up in a lot of places in our logs - currently he's available on the Beluga ;D ). Here we go....not for any of you of who are at all squeamish...

'The remains of the hook, with block attached, fell toward me, and that piece of hook struck my foot, breaking one of my toes and smashing another. I had to go below at once, and when I had taken survey of the damage I knew that I must lose a toe. So I sent the steward for the captain to do the job, but he was busy at the time and asked me to wait.
I thought rather fast. My foot was numb from the accident. I knew that the longer I waited, the more painful the amputation would be, so, with the steward and cabin boy looking on and groaning, I whetted up my knife and cut it off myself. The way it was injured made it necessary for me to unjoint the bone from my foot, too, but I did it, and there was considerable satisfaction in having performed my first surgical operation.'

[AvastMH]

Um, yes.
A very interesting book.

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Those were the days.

[AvastMH]

Beaked whales may evade killer whales by silently diving in sync

[AvastMH]

Beaked whales may evade killer whales by silently diving in sync

Very clever of them. Darwin would be impressed

[AvastMH]

Why was whaling so big in the 19th century?

https://www.livescience.com/why-whaling ... ntury.html

Whaling was a grisly business, but it enabled a life of comfort and ease that was at odds with this reality.

[AvastMH]

Thanks Maikel - that's a good article . The picture is grisly but shows life how it was. I always wonder how we would have managed without whale oil? Dark streets on a night would worry me. The clothes and carriage whips etc I'm sure could have been managed some other way, for a start by banning silly fashions. :-[

[AvastMH]

Here is an interesting, if tentative, result...
Sunspots and Stranded Whales: A Bizarre Correlation

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[AvastMH]

Fascinating, thanks Randi.

[AvastMH]

Why was whaling so big in the 19th century?

https://www.livescience.com/why-whaling ... ntury.html

Whaling was a grisly business, but it enabled a life of comfort and ease that was at odds with this reality.

The Charles Nordhoff mentioned in the article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_N ... ist)#Works is the grandfather of the Nordhoff who co-wrote Mutiny on the Bounty. Served as a boy on the USS Columbus ship-of-the-line.

[AvastMH]

I somehow missed your post Kevin. That's a great film The journey of Captain Bligh must be one of the most astounding trips-to-rescue ever made.

[AvastMH]

Very sad news in the UK on Christmas Eve.
Withernsea: Whales stranded on beach die.
Ten sperm whales found washed up on the North Sea coast have died. The pod was first spotted on a beach between Tunstall and Withernsea, near Hull, at about 08:30 GMT. Members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said poor weather conditions and the size of the whales meant it was impossible to save them. A spokesperson said the young whales were "in very poor nutritional condition" and had most likely suffered a "navigation error".
They rarely survive long once stranded, the group said.
According to the BDMLR the size of the sperm whales - which can reach 65ft (20m) in length and weigh up to 80 tonnes - meant there were no safe methods for lifting and moving them. A member of the public called 999 to report the stranding, and the coastguard was despatched to the scene.

'Catastrophic loss'
Ch Supt Darren Downs, of Humberside Police, urged people to stay away from the area "to allow teams from HM Coastguard to manage what is an extremely distressing scene".
Robin Petch, a marine expert and Sea Watch Foundation ambassador, said: "Sperm whales are a species that shouldn't come into this part of the North Sea, but a few come down that way. They are a deep-water animal that feed on squid and dive in the deep waters of the continental shelf. Often younger males can end up confused in the shallower water off the east coast. Once they are ashore, chances of survival are very slim, none of the rescue equipment can deal with whales that big. The loss of a large group, probably of young males, is catastrophic," Mr Petch added.

Map showing Withernsea

[Randi]

Bowhead whales: A recent success story

[AvastMH]

Bowhead whales: A recent success story

Brilliant! I just hope that they can adapt to the warming Arctic. But seeing such good numbers is wonderful. Reading the logs brings the whole massacre of whales much closer. They don't have too much trouble finding them in 1880, but by 1895 things are so different with few catches. And that's in the area covered in the map in this article.