Durban's whaling heritage
THAR she blows … whaling was for decades an integral part of Durban and its development. It put bread on the table for many thousands, from all communities. The Union Whaling plant on the Bluff was the largest onshore processing operation in the world. The fleet of whale-catching vessels riding at anchor in the harbour, when they were not out hunting, epitomised the romance and glamour of it.
University students would sign on during their long vacation to serve with the whaling fleet in the Antarctic. It was good money. Whaling brought to Durban society a Norwegian component, whose descendants are most of them still here. It also brought some frightful pongs that would periodically drift across the city.
But whaling was actually a cruel, bloody messy thing and, in the end, environmentally unsustainable. Its international banning brought to an end this epoch in Durban's story.
Was it any more cruel, bloody and messy than an abattoir? Probably not. But it was the environmental unsustainability that did for it.
Last Friday saw the relaunching of a Whaling Exhibit at the Maritime Museum, just off the Esplanade. This is being punted as part of Durban's history, a tourist attraction. The museum authorities appeal for anyone with whaling artefacts or photographs to come forward with them.
A fair crowd attended. Two speakers, fellows of Norwegian extraction, captured the dichotomy of whaling. One said it was like farming. If you played the game and stuck to quotas it was sustainable. He had a point. Another said he had an open mind until the day he actually harpooned a whale – never again! "Now I'm a tree-hugger, I don't tread on ants." He also had a point.
All the same, whaling had a romance, with its hardships, dangers and the skills and camaraderie of the men involved. It's surely right that we celebrate this.
High drama
I USED to know a few people connected with Union Whaling. Social get-togethers with the Norwegian whalermen were memorable.
A skipper told of a stoker he had on his catcher who had a terrible stutter. This fellow appeared in the wardroom one day as he and his officers were having lunch.
"S-s-s-s-s-s …."
"What do you want, you fool? We're having lunch."
The mate got up and ejected him. But next thing he was back.
"S-s-s-s-s-s …" But then he got it out. "Stokehold's on fire!"
End of lunch.
Another time they were coming into Durban harbour, a huge cloud of black smoke belching from the funnel. The skipper went to the speaking tube.
"You're making black smoke."
"Wh-wh-wh-wh – what colour do you want?"
Yes, colourful days.
More drama
Then there was the occasion back in the 70s when the press of Durban joined the whaling fleet.
There had been some terrible weather. A huge tanker, the World Glory, had broken in two, far up the Mozambique Channel. One half had sunk. The crew were perched precariously on the other half, that was sinking slowly.
The whaling fleet set out from Durban to rescue them. In the couple of hours available as the whalecatchers made ready, The Mercury and the Daily News rounded up every reporter and photographer they could find and put them on the whalers. High drama. They set off at night into the teeth of the gale.
But the navy reached the World Glory first and rescued the crew. When the radio message came through, the whalers turned round – not for Durban but for the whaling grounds. It was almost a month before they returned.
Durban's two daily newspapers were somewhat short-staffed. But then each had a glut of photo-stories of whaling operations.
Yes, whaling is part of our story.
Tailpiece
AN ELDERLY couple had just learned how to send text messages on their cellphones.
"She is a romantic. While out having coffee with a friend, she sends him a message: "If you are sleeping, send me your dreams. If you are laughing, send me your smile. If you are eating, send me a bite. If you are drinking, send me a sip. If you are crying, send me your tears … I love you."
He texts her back: "I'm on the toilet. Please advise."
Last word
Parents were invented to make children happy by giving them something to ignore.
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