Transcribing yesterday's weather for tomorrow
https://www.oldweatherforum.org/
Randi wrote:Sun Oct 20, 2019 5:58 pm Humpback whales use their flippers and bubble 'nets' to catch fish
AvastMH wrote:Sun Oct 20, 2019 7:35 pmThanks for this RandiRandi wrote:Sun Oct 20, 2019 5:58 pm Humpback whales use their flippers and bubble 'nets' to catch fish
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 wrote:Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:36 pm 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.
Michael wrote:Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:44 pm
AvastMH wrote:Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:55 pm 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.'
Randi wrote:Tue Jan 07, 2020 2:09 pm Um, yes.
A very interesting book.
Michael wrote:Tue Jan 07, 2020 2:43 pm Those were the days.
Randi wrote:Sun Feb 09, 2020 8:44 pm Beaked whales may evade killer whales by silently diving in sync
AvastMH wrote:Sun Feb 09, 2020 8:54 pmVery clever of them. Darwin would be impressedRandi wrote:Sun Feb 09, 2020 8:44 pm Beaked whales may evade killer whales by silently diving in sync
Maikel wrote:Sat Feb 22, 2020 2:04 pm 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 wrote:Sat Feb 22, 2020 2:39 pm Thanks Maikel - that's a good article
Randi wrote:Wed Mar 04, 2020 2:07 am Here is an interesting, if tentative, result...
Sunspots and Stranded Whales: A Bizarre Correlation
Michael wrote:Wed Mar 04, 2020 2:06 pm
Helen J wrote:Wed Mar 04, 2020 6:02 pm Fascinating, thanks Randi.
Kevin wrote:Sun May 03, 2020 1:28 amThe 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.Maikel wrote:Sat Feb 22, 2020 2:04 pm 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 wrote:Wed Jun 17, 2020 6:11 pm I somehow missed your post Kevin. That's a great film
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.