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THE KILLERS OF TWOFOLD BAY
[The writer of these articles lived for 20 years at Twofold Bay
and ita vicinity, and frequently served in the whaleboat u ouc
of the crew. He took notes at the time of the various chases
in which he participated, and these articles have been written
without embellishment from those notes.]
. .Illustrations appear in the pictorial section of this Issue.
By
James Morgan.
No. I.
TUB WHALEUS' COADJUTOR.
IMMEDIATELY south of Ben Boyd's
old lighthouse, at South Head o£ Two
fold Bay, is an indentation known as
Leatherjacket Bay. From this bay may
be seen almost daily, from the first week
in June each year to the end- of October,
three distinct luobs of killers (the Orca
gladiator of science), of a total number
of 25. The first mob swims out from the
shore of the bay about one mile; the second
mob from that one-mile point to about two
miles; the third mob from the two-mile
point to about three miles. The tall dor
sal fins of these killers may be seen on
nearly every calm day goiug shorewards and
out to sea, always on the alert for whales.
At the slightest indication of the pre
sence of a whale one of the killers Vill
"breach" (throw itself out of the water),
and immediately the three mobs will do
the same, and then form into a half-circle
and drive the whale into a shallow bay,
of which there are many within or adjacent
to Twofold Bay.
The killers of Twofold Bay are unique.
Hookey, a whale-killer well known at Eden. The animal is so called because of the malformation of die dorsal fin, supposed to have been caused in battle with a whale. Help
Hookey, a whale-killer well known at Eden. The animal is so called
because of the malformation of die dorsal fin, supposed to have been
caused in battle with a whale.
There are plenty of killers in different parts
of the waters of the earth. They are to
be found in the Behring Sea and straits;
at Walfish Bay, South Africa; Professor
David saw them in the Antarctic; and Mr.
Edward A. Wilson, zoologist on the Dis
covery, spoke of them as scouring the "seas
and pack-ice in hundreds, to the terror
of the seals and penguins," in Ross Sea.
About 1862 a skeleton found in the fens of
Lincolnshire was declared by Professor
Owen to be that of a killer. Probably
killers inhabit many other phces beside
those mentioned, but in no otber part of
the world than Twofold Bay are they to
be found working side hy side with the
whaling crews in the chase and final cap
ture of the mighty whales.
The whaling crews reach South Head
each morning at daybreak,' and while a
general lookout is kept over the whole
visible ocean, it is concentrated .upon the
killers, for these detect the presence of
a whale, even though it may be &. mile or
more distant, probably by bearing.
When the killers begin to encircle and
drive the whale inshore the crews put off,
everything having been prepared for the
onslaught. As soon as the harpoon is
thrown and the whale securely fastened,
four of the killers leave the mob, two of
them placing themselves under the jaws of
the whale, the otber two taking up « posi
tion on each side of the monster's head.
The anxiety of the killers for the capture
of the whale is shown by the flashing 4yes,
turning from side to side every moment as
if unwilling to lose the slightest chance of
capture. Whales breathe (spout) about
every 60 minutes, and when that operation
is about to take place one of the killers
will throw itself across the blowhole, so
as to prevent the huge animal from breath
ing. It is only in that position for a few
seconds, however, as the whale, with a huge
lunge, will Sing it off. Almost immediate!;
the other killer will throw itself across
the blowhole, only to be flung aside by
this giant of the deep.
By these methods the rapid progress of
the whale is prevented, and as it becomes
tired the crew is enabled to get alongside
and use the lances with deadly effect.
The killer varies in length from 18ft. to
28ft., with a girth of from 12ft. to 18ft. The
dorsal fin rises to an average height of 5ft.,
and there is a yellowish-white band round
the body just aft of the dorsal fin. Unlike
all other whales found in the vicinity of
Twofold Bay, the killer has teetb, 52 in
number. Its food consists of a small
whale, known locally as the grampus, which
is from 18ft. to 20ft. in length, but when
pressed for food it will kill albicore and
other large fisb. When a whale is killed
the killers force open the jaws, dive
into the cavernous mouth, and- tear off
pieces of the tongue, and as that portion
of the whale's organism, when "tried out"
(boiled down) has been known to yield a
tun of oil, its size can he readily imagined.
After the meal the killers play about,
diving under the whaleboats, leaping out
. of the water, and coming down upon their
backs, and in other ways showing their
joy over the cuccessful issue. .
Then one sees a sight worth seeing.
Surrounding the dead whale, and catching
hold of its head, flukes, and pectoral fins,
the killers take the body to the depths
below, where the great Iijji form another
banquet. After 24 hours it is allowed to
float to the surface, whence it is towed to
the trying-out works, there to be divested
of its valuable baleen and blubber.
.What length of time the killers have
been paying their annual visits to Two
fold Bay it 16 difficult to 6ay. When the
1111 lay Brothers began whaling in 1826 an
old aborigine used to say that he heard
his grandfather speak of the Jwowa (the
aboriginal name) when he was a piccaninny,
lie used to relate how, when the beowa
canie inshore his countrymen stroked their
backs with long spears, the animals, cat
like, enjoying the operation. This state
ment ia borne out by early whalers. Many
years ago a killer each evening used to
separate himself from the mob. swim over
to tlie-lookout station at South Head-, wait
till the .crews were starting for home at
East Boyd, lead, the boats to the ways,
breach once or twiee, then go back to his
fellows, a distance of four miles; (
It is not iufrequent for a whale to get
into one of the many small inlets in Two
fold Bay ^without the killers being-"aware ;
of the fact. Then the boat's crew adopts
the plan of "flopping" the long steer oar i
upon the surface of' the water, and as a ;
rule, in response, the killers will be along- j
side the boat within a few minutes.
At times when some of the killers are «
away scouring the ocean for food, and <
others have a whale "bailed up," and its J
whereabouts unknown to the crews, a kil- !
ler will separate itself from the mob, make
for the Kiah River, wliere the trying^out
?works are situated, breach, from time tc
time, and stay there till the boats are
launched, then swim ahead of the boats
till the locality of the whale is reached,
even though it may be many miles away.
Several instances of the kind have occurred
within the last few years, leading to the
capture of whales. In this way the killers,
are of great importance to the industry,
for only with their co-operation is whaling
I in the bay made profitable.
A picture of a killer called Hookey is
shown here. The uame has been given
because its dorsal fin lias the appearance
of a hook, supposed to have been caused
by a blow from a whale when the killer
ventured too close. Another killer, Tom,
ia the largest of all of them, and is known
for his playful habit of dragging the whale
line from the boat, hanging on to it, and
being dragged along by the whale for 20
or 30 minutes at a time. .
Although the killers are tlie enemies of
the whales, which will often rush ashore
from them, not at any time have they
attacked human beings, even though, when
.their boats have been smashed to splinters,
the men. have been left struggling in the
icy waters: "Whether it is that these won
derful animals recognise that some of the
human beinKB are partners in the business
of whale-kiUing, from which they are
enabled to eke out an existence, would be j
difficult to say, but the fact remains that
man's life is Bacred from attack, and the|
presence of the killers lis a sure guarantee
that not any sharks are about, for when,
as sometimes happens, captured whales arc
anchored about the bay waiting to be tried
out, and sharks approach to feed upon the
carcases, the killers ferociously attack
them, and in a few moments the man
eaters are dead or dispersed.
A few yeans back a school of porpoises
had rounded up a huge school of fish ih
East Boyd Bay, when the beowas came
a savagery almost unimaginable the i»r
poises were-attacked, scores of them were
bitten in two, and the fish were liberated.
In 1907 .the killers encircled and drove
iuto one of the bays two finback whales
a cow and. calf. The cow was 97ft. Gin.
long, and the calf 45ft. The .cow whale
was the largest ever captured in Twofold
Bay. and yielded seven tuns of oil from the
blubber and one tun from the tongue.
With
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
$