Whaleworld

I didn't make it to Ravensthorpe. I ended up spending a bit of time at "Whaleworld", which is what one sign reffered to the old whale hunting station as. I like the thought. With that naming convention Dreamworld is where dreams are slaughtered and Seaworld is where sea creatures are tortured, which is essentially accurate.

Anyway, the whale hunting station was decent. I went on a guided tour and discovered that turning a whale into oil was far less complicated than I thought.

First they chased down a whale with their boat. The boat had a steam engine that ran on furnace oil. It burnt a tonne of furnace oil per hour when it was on a chase. They'd shoot the whale with an explosive harpoon and drag it back to the station while keeping the sharks away with shotguns. Then they'd winch it up the ramp and chop it up. They'd chop its head off with a gnarly looking steam saw that I can't believe I didn't take a photo of. The head made really good oil. Then they'd feed the pieces into three giant pressure cookers and cook them for three and a half hours a viola, they'd have whale oil, amongst other things. There was no mention of distilling it so I assume the oil separates itself out. The oil was used for just about everything and this station produced 60% of the world's supply of sperm whale oil.

In the 70s crude oil prices made running the station too expensive so it shut. They'd killed 21000 sperm whales at a rate of 1000 whales per year, which was the requirement to remain profitable. I wanted to suggest that if they continuously killed 1000 whales per year that it would suggest it was a good example of a sustainable industry.

She also said that the sperm whale population has been growing at a rate of 12% per year since 1978 when whaling finished. According to the compound interest calculator, for every ten whales in 1978 there are now 930 whales. In another 40 years that will have grown to 86,500 whales. Just before the turn of the next century those 10 whales will have produced 8 million ravenous sperm whales. They breed like rabbits! I for one am terrified.

I mustn't be calculating that correctly.

This is a pygmy blue whale skeleton. It is 22 metres long. The non-pygmy variety reach 35 metres long. 

Their best boat. It had a top speed of 35km/h.

After Whaleworld I headed for Ravensthorpe. I didn't make it. I'm at Jerramungup. It's not a bad little caravan park and was only $13. I needed a shower and to charge stuff. The weather today was nice and it isn't as cold here as closer to the coast.

The bike has been running like an absolute dog. I tightened the chain back at Wickepin so I'm wondering if I overdid it. It is surging, especially in 3rd gear. It did a similar thing last year and I had to get a new chain. It does look like links are frozen and there are tight spots. I have oiled it again so hopefully that fixes it. I'll also loosen it a little.

I did notice while stopped at roadworks that the bike was hunting for idle, which is when it changes the idle speed constantly. It usually does this when it is warming up. It's been between 5000 and 6000km since the oil change in Katherine so the oil should be good. It may be because the fan was coming on but I doubt it. So I really don't know, which isn't that strange of a position for me to be in. Perhaps it needs some whale oil.