Pushing away the hatch which covered the entrance to the hold, I swung up the steep ladder to the deck above. Sure enough a big humpback was spouting only a short distance away, now and then rolling on his side and throwing his great black and white fin in the air.
“He’s feeding,” said Sorenson, as I stepped up beside him; “but he’s pretty wild. Perhaps we’ll kill this time.”
Back and forth for two hours we followed the animal, sometimes getting so close that when I saw him burst to the surface I held my breath, expecting to hear the roar of the gun beside me; but Sorenson, somewhat chagrined by his miss at the last whale, wished to be sure of this shot and would not take a chance. The Captain swung the boat in a long circle each time the animal disappeared and it seemed almost certain that we would at last be near when he came up. And so it happened, for when we had almost despaired of getting a shot the man in the barrel shouted, “He’s coming, right below us.”
“Scrambling up, I ... snapped the camera at the huge body partly hidden by the boat.”
Looking down into the water I could see the ghostly form of the whale rising to the surface with tremendous force just in front of the bow. There was no time to stop the ship and the animal burst from the water half under the vessel’s side. I started back, shielding my camera from the spout, and, stumbling over a pile of chains on the deck, slid almost to the forecastle companionway. Scrambling up, I jumped to the rail and snapped the camera at the huge body partly hidden by the boat.
The whale seemed dazed by his sudden appearance under the steamer, and rolling on his side, went down only a few feet, reappearing ten fathoms away. Sorenson, who had held to the gun, steadied himself, swung the muzzle about, and taking deliberate aim, planted the harpoon squarely behind the fin. It was a beautiful shot, and the whale went down without a struggle. The quiet which followed the deafening explosion was broken only by the soft swish of the line running out from the winch and the men going to their places. I was leaning against the side almost weak from the excitement of the last few minutes when Sorenson, a pleased grin on his sunburned face, turned and said, “I didn’t miss him that time, did I? He never moved after I fired.”
Four hours more of chasing first one and then another brought the vessel close to a humpback and again Sorenson sent the harpoon crashing into the lungs, killing at the first shot. As the day had been a tiring one and it was too dark to take pictures, I picked up my camera and climbed down the narrow companionway into the Captain’s cabin. After reloading the plate holders I lay down on the bunk listening to the rattling of chains and the tramp of feet on the deck above as the dead whale, with the other which had been picked up, was made fast to the bow of the vessel.
Bringing in a humpback at the end of the day’s hunt. The whale’s flukes weigh more than a ton.