I shouted to Sorenson and jumped to the starboard side where, by leaning far out, I could see the swirling green spot in the mirror of my camera. With a rush the mother whale came to the surface, followed a second later by her calf. Sorenson hesitated, swung the gun a little to one side and fired. The great cloud of smoke blown backward in our faces shut out the water ahead, but in a few moments it lifted and I was surprised to see the whale lying on its side at the surface, apparently dead. It was the first time I had ever seen a finback float, although I had been told that occasionally they did not sink when killed.
While the animal was being secured and the air pump started, I climbed to the barrel to watch the movements of the calf. The little fellow refused to leave his dead mother and circled around and around the boat within easy gunshot. Although he was swimming low in the water, showing only a small part of his back above the surface, I exposed a plate each time he came near, until the stock of negatives had been exhausted.
A finback lying in the water at Aikawa just before it is “cut in.”
In a short time Sorenson had the gun reloaded and stood ready for a shot at the calf when next he came within range. From the masthead I could look far down into the clear water and once saw the little finback rising almost under the vessel. I shouted a warning to the men below and as he reached the surface the harpoon crashed into his side, going almost through him.
Drawing up a finback at Aikawa, Japan.
When I had descended to the deck and stood beside Captain Grahame on the bridge his face was beaming with smiles. Pulling out his watch, he said:
“It’s only ten o’clock and I think we will tow these three in. The rest of the bunch are scattered now, but maybe they will come together this afternoon, and we can get back in time for the evening hunting.”
In half an hour all the whales had been made fast to the bow and the engines were throbbing monotonously as the sturdy little vessel plowed her way through the water toward the station, leaving a long black trail across the blue sky behind.