San Francisco Call, 21 January 1919
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 21.— Lieutenant James
McCullough of Ream aviation field is
declared to be the gunner who slew
the whale that washed ashore at
Imperial beach last week.
According to reports from Ream field
the whale rose two miles off shore
and spouted defiance at lieutenant McCullough,
who was practicing aerial gunnery.
The aviator accepted the challenge by opening
fire on the leviathan with a machine gun as he
flew over it.
The whale’s track was riddled by bullets,
the lieutenant’s fellow aviators say.
As a result of his feat whale hunting promises
to become a popular sport among fliers stationed
along the coast here.
No comment on this outrage – JS
Well, I’m certainly outraged. So there, you now have one comment. : )
Seriously, that poor whale didn’t deserve it.
Thanks for bringing the comment full circle 8-)).
Yes, now we’re finding that marine biologists suspect the whale population in their massive numbers before the 1800’s, ate enough krill and pooped enough to actually enrich the oceans, enhancing the carbon cycle.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/baleen-whales-eat-poop-more-food-ecosystem
“A new study finds that baleen whales, including blue and humpback whales, eat on average three times as much krill and other food as previously thought, and more food in means more poop out. Paradoxically, the collapse of the krill may stem from fewer whales excreting iron-rich, digested krill, denying these ecosystems some crucial nutrients they need to thrive. Phytoplankton blooms, which sustain krill and many other parts of the food web, rely on that iron. Restoring whale populations to pre-whaling levels could help bolster these ecosystems and even store more carbon in the ocean, researchers report in the Nov. 4 Nature.”
That’s amazing! Now I really wanna go back in time and save that whale. And while I’m at it, I wouldn’t mind smacking McCullough upside the head. ):