Elektrische Waltötung vor 150 Jahren

Abstract

About 150 years ago, efforts to find means of increasing whaling efficiency led to the first experiments in the use of electricity for whaling. In 1852, two Bremen citizens, the numerologist Albert Sonnenburg, PhD, and the gunsmith Philipp Rechten, obtained a US patent for an electrical whaling method. The patent specifications describe a heavy generator consisting of four copper spools rotating on an axle between four horseshoe-shaped magnets. A special handthrown harpoon connected an insulated wire to the whale. By turning a crank on the generator, the current was to run from the harpoon injury through the whale’s body and the sea water to the copper plating of the whaleboat and through another wire back to the generator, closing the circuit. At that time it was assumed that the frequency - 960 strokes per minute - would prove deadly. Actually, alternating current merely causes a tetanic muscle cramp, i.e. the paralysis of the whale, as was observed in all the tests conducted at the time. The paralyzed whale, however, could easily be lanced and hauled in. Around the same time, an electrical engineer of St. Petersburg, Professor Boris Jakobi, developed a very similar apparatus. It is presently not possible to ascertain which of the two methods was invented first or whether they were invented independently of one another. The Bremen equipment was field-tested on board the Bremen whaling ship AVERICK HEINEKEN in 1853, possibly also on board the New Bedford whaler AMETHYST after 1854. Jakobi’s apparatus was tried on board the Finnish-Russian whaling ship AJAN around 1853/54. None of these field tests were successful. During the 1860s, 1880s, 1900s, 1920s-1930s and 1960s-1980s other experiments were conducted on methods of killing whales by electricity. Due to the complicated electromagnetic physiology particularly of large marine organisms, to imponderables of a ballistic nature and to problems of handling safety, however, the explosive harpoon was consistently demonstrated to be superior with respect to both catching efficiency and humane killing standards.