PELORUS JACK

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2471, 8 April 1909, Page 3

PELORUS JACK

A FAMOUS FISH WHOSE PROTECTION EXPIRES THIS YEAR.

A writer in the Wellington “Citizen” gives this interesting account of Pelorus Jack:—-Four and a half years ago Pelorus Jack received official recognition, his Excellency the Governor solemnly sitting in council and making an Order for Jack’s especial protection. Since then Pelorus Jack has been popularly known as “the only fish in toe world with a special Act of Parliament to protect him.” If an Orcler-in-Coun-cil is not exactly an Act of rarliament it is the next best thing, and if Jack wasn’t specifically named in that bis toric document still there can be nodoubt about who was meant. What the Order said was this;. “ T t shall not be lawful for any person to take the fish or mammal of the species commonly known as Risso’s dolpin (Grampus Griseus) in the waters of ('ook S'lait, or of tlie bays, sounds, and estuaries adjacent thereto.” Whether Jack is or is not a .Grampus Grieseus or Risso’s dolphin has been a matter of some dispute among persons competent to express an opinion. Anyway lie comes nearer being one than any r- er fish that has been seen in Cook Strait, and so presumably gets the benefit of the doubt. The penalty, for a breach of the Order is fixed at “not less than five pounds nor more than ono In: u Led pounds,” and the term is for five yters from the date of gazetting. As the Order was gazetted on Septcmh ir 29th, 1904, Pelorus Jack’s protection there-

fore expires just six months hence, and unless it is renewed he will bec< me on September 29th next a common unprotected fish liable to be hooked, harpooned, or shot with impunity by some enterprising seeker of curios. Pelorus Jack is so well-known that

it is becoming almost superfluous to describe him ; but for the benefit of those hard-headed New Zealanders who still look upon the whole legend as an historic “have” on Wellington-Nelson trip and a rival to the old Father Neptune’s mummeries on the voyage out, it may be explained that Jack is a real fish of a dirty white color and from twelve to fourteen feet in length. For the benefit of that voracious journal, tlie “Sydney Morning Herald,” it may be added that lie. neither pilots nor tows ships through the French Pass. The writpir saw him for the first time about tweifty years since, and several ship-masters can recollect seeing him gambolling about in his haunts off the Pelorus Sound as far back as thirty j ? ears ago. One of the best descriptions of this re-

markable old fish appeared in the “Strand Magazine” -some time back from the pen of a Nelson resident, and from it we extract this description of appearance: “At half-past eleven that night I stood on the steamer’s forecastle and looked around. There was a broad

smudge of coastline on the port bow, an isolated smudge or two to starboard, and an inky darkness ahead, except here and there, where a wavelet broke into a handful of phosphorescent stars. Not a light was visible on the ship, every glimmer being shuttered off so that the officers on the bridge might have nothing to distract their vision. J'Tho wind freshens as we reach Point Akaterwa, and the sea-horses cover tlie surface with flashes of phosphorescent light. The distant lighthouse on Stephens Island flashes twice and disappears behind an island. . “ ‘That is the poi.nt he usually comes off,’ says mj r companion, pointing to a darker loom on our port bow.. Then, as a larger wave breaks near us, he cries excitedly, ‘There he is!’ “A blaze of light like a fiery torpedo shoots towards us, whirls round, and keeps pace with us, darting from side to side of our hows with marvellous rapidity. As wo lean over ancl look down we see a shadowy, luminous shape surrounded by streaks of greenish light broadening into a wide, luminous trail as it darts ahead and leaps out of tlie water with a resounding splash. “ ‘Looks like a ghost, doesn’t lie? “Their he swam steadily beside us for a few seconds, his back fin cleaving the surface and scattering showers of brilliant spray. .. , u ‘See him rubbing himself against, our bow,’- • .... “I leaned over and watched him carefull v. He appeared to me to., pivot himself on hie' tail, which seemed close to our stem, while his head and body, almost upright in the water, darted from side, of our rushing cutwater. Then ho dived under out keel, then sliot ahead again, and, turning a complete somersault, treated us to what I can only describe as a display of marine hurdle-racing, with a circus exhibition thrown in. u long does ho stay?’ 1 ask. at length. As- though he heard the question, ‘the fish’ shoots round, his* tail points to our hows, and ho dives under us, disappearing in a whirl of green light. “He’s gone!’ I cry. ‘Will ho come back ?’ \ “ ‘No, he never comes back; he’s done with us for to-night. We may as well turn in.. It’s about half an hour to the French Pass,’ adds my companion, as

we go below. “I am told by one who has known ‘the fish’ for the last eighteen years, and who has made careful inquiries,, that Pelorus Jack never appears outside a limit of five miles fromthe Chefvvpdes, and that latterly lie. lias met the steamers more on the French Pass side of this limit. The Chetwode Islands are about fourteen miles east of .tlie French Pass. Others confirm this, and some go so far as to say that he never follows a steamer out cif tliis limit; but this is not so well authenticated. Occasionally, when in a particularly friendly mood, ho follows a steamer for a considerable distance, sometimes-for half an lioyii ; at other times, possibly when ho has pressing business on hand, lie only stays a few minutes.” ■ 7 , , There was a story -current lor a Ton" time that Pelorus Jack never met the°Pengilin, which was alleged to have bumped him badly at one time, or in some way or other offended Ins dignity. “ Victorian,” however, writes to us as follows on,! thi? 'subject : 1 was a pa?-. seimer on the Penguin perhaps a hundred times, and X saw Jack many, many times. In fact one call our friend Jack made the Penguin will never be effaced from my memory. It was a beutmu night, and Jack did us the honour oi preceding the Penguin for fully an hour, Living a rcallv magnificent display as ho ;T lo t V land opt of ' the ? water amid ■ clouds ofe phosphorescence. -■: . ' ■ : =