Huge Fleet Gone To

Flood Of Whale Oil

Huge Fleet Gone To Antarctic

T AST month, the whaling sh I ’ps of six nations left for the Antarctic. Bv now, they are “on the job.” The “s°ason” offic ; ally opens on November 30.

A special correspondent of London Daily Telegraph, in September, said the fleet would comprise: 33 factory ships, varying from 6.000 to 22.000 tons gross, and of the following nationalities: British 12 Norwegian 9 German 6 Japanese 4 United States 1 Panama 1 232 “catchers”—small, swift vessels of from 350 to 550 tons: and 11,000 men.

It is expected that this huge flpet will kill 30,000 whales, and obtain 120.000 000 gallons of whale-oil. Attempts to save the Antarctic whales from extinction, bv limitation of catches under international agreement apnear to have failed.

A Sydney merchant who makes a study of world conditions said to the editor of the early this month: “I am sure that the knowledge that all these vessels have gone to the Antarctic already has weakened the copra market.”