“He was running fast but seldom stayed down long, his high sickle-shaped dorsal fin cutting the surface first in one direction, then in another.”
We hunted them for two hours, trying first one and then the other—they had separated—without once getting near enough even for pictures. It was aggravating work, and I was glad to hear Andersen say:
“We’ll leave them and see if we can find some others. They are impossible.”
When we came up from breakfast six other ships were visible, some of them not far away and others marked only by long trails on the horizon. We passed the San Hogei near enough to hear Captain Hansen shout that he had seen no whales, and then plowed along due south directly away from the other ships. In a short time, one by one, they had dropped away from sight and even the smoke paths were lost where sky and sea met.
“Always the center of a screaming flock of birds which sometimes swept downward in a cloud, dipping into the waves and rising again, the water flashing in myriads of crystal drops from their brown wings.”
It was eleven o’clock before we raised another spout, but this animal was blowing frequently and the great cloud of birds hovering about showed that he was “on feed.” He was running fast but seldom stayed down long, his high, sickle-shaped dorsal fin cutting the surface first in one direction, then in another, but always the center of a screaming flock of birds which sometimes swept downward in a cloud, dipping into the waves and rising again, the water flashing in myriads of crystal drops from their brown wings.
As we came close we saw that the whale was in a school of sardines, the fish frantically dashing here and there, often jumping clear out of the water and causing their huge pursuer a deal of trouble to follow their quick turnings. But he managed his lithe body with wonderful rapidity, and ever before the fish left him many yards behind was plowing after them, his great tail sending the water in swirling green patches astern.
We were going at full speed and came down to half when a hundred fathoms away, but we could not take it slow, for the whale was running directly from us. I got two pictures of the birds and from where I was standing beside the gun could plainly follow the animal in his course. As he rose about sixty fathoms ahead and turned to go down, his back came into view and just behind the fin a large white mark was visible.
“That’s a harpoon scar,” said Andersen. “It is a bad sign. He may give us a run for it, after all.”