Narrated by the hunters Peter Røsing from Kangâmuit
and Amos Jakobsen from Sârdloq, Nuuk (Godhåb).
From: Grønlandske Fangere Fortæller, Nordiske Landes Bogforlag
1971.
White Whales can be hunted wherever they are likely to migrate.
When hunting there should be not too much sea state and the current
should be not too strong in order that the floating hunting bladder
is not lost out of sight. The best hunting places are where ice fields
are drifting and the water is slightly cloudy. In cloudy waters White
Whales don’t hear and see very well.
If you want to hunt White Whales you have to search for and choose suitable
fjords. If the fjord is deep the White Whales tend to dive to the bottom
where they search for their food. In such an area hunting is bad.
If you are setting up a habitat it is important to make sure that White
Whales migrate in the area. The habitat has to be set up where the view
over the sea is good and the whales don’t notice it. A general
requirement for habitat is that it has a good view over the sea hunting
area.
Hunting White Whales may be done in different ways. The best way to
hunt them, however, is with the harpoon with which seals are hunted.
If you can kill a seal with it you can also outwit and kill a White
Whale with it. White Whales are easily frightened away, causing the
whales to disappear from the area and disappointing the hunters. Experienced
White Whale hunters claim that hunting White Whales is not suitable
for hunters who give up very easily. You have to be patient.
White Whales usually take a sharp look slightly above the surface of
the sea before they dive again. Immediately after surfacing they tend
to look to the right, to the left and backwards. After surfacing they
also turn onto their sides. Therefore you always have to be careful
not to come into their field of view.
Whales migrate along the coast and along the shoreline. If you are waiting
for a group of migrating whales coming through, it is best to wait for
them sitting in the kayak at the beach. Otherwise you are not able to
reach them fast enough.
White Whales moving against the wind don’t hear very well, especially
if there is a sea state. Under such circumstances it is easy to approach
them unnoticed. You have, however, to be careful that the harpoon line
is not blown sideways by the wind once the harpoon has been taken up.
Migrating White Whales don’t hunt their game staying close together.
You have to approach them secretly and with stealth, remembering exactly
the position where they move and dive and you have to be careful not
to come too close to them in order that you are not noticed. You should
not paddle too close to White Whales which don’t move straight
or surface. Only if they dive should you approach them carefully and
if they then surface you should move in extremely slowly. The best way
to approach them is from the back where they are not able too hear very
well whilst they do see very well close up and sideways. Usually you
will be seen coming from the side and being as close as needed to use
the harpoon. It is therefore necessary to move as slowly and carefully
as possible and to take the harpoon in your hand as early as possible.
If it is just surfaced it is not able too see well. If you are not trained
in hunting White Whales you should only observe them without holding
the harpoon in order to get a clear view of the situation.
If the harpoon has been thrown it is important to watch to which side
the line falls. If the line falls to the side opposite to the throwing
arm you should quickly get the hunting bladder ready to throw it over
board. If the line, however, falls to the throwing side, throw the hunting
bladder immediately over board.
If the white whale pulls quickly on the line or the hunting bladder,
it is usually not far away. But if it takes a long time to start pulling
it is far away.
If you want to follow the white whale you may not loose track of the
oil track of the harpooned whale. If you want to try to kill the whale
you should shout the “Kayaker´s warning” before the
whale resurfaces. White Whales are not very shy. If they are approaching
you and are diving beneath you they might drag the hunting bladder under
water. If you then start searching for it and the hunting bladder surfaces,
the whale, because it is not shy, will try to keep its distance or even
diminish its distance. It is only possible to recognise whether the
whale has been hit by the harpoon if it is moving very fast and tends
to drag the hunting bladder under the surface.
A whale which has been hit by a harpoon tends to turn onto that side
where it has been wounded. If it is dragging the hunting bladder along
it is in front of the bladder where it was observed diving. If you get
closer to that point the whale will resurface. A white whale which has
been hit by a harpoon is very fast!
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