(2 of 2)
Operating costs are so high that a factory ship and its fleet of chasers must average a whale a day to break even. The average blue whale produces about 100 barrels of oil worth around $1,000. World production rose from 1,300,000 bbl. in the 1928-29 season to 3,600,000 bbl. in the 1930-31 season. This was more than the world could use either in soap or in European margarine. So in 1931-32 most of the Antarctic companies declared a whaling holiday and production dropped to 775,000 bbl. In the season just closed production was some 2,400,000 barrels worth about $26,000,000. But some 1,800,000 bbl. still overhang the market and another holiday next year is by no means improbable. Only British whaling company with publicly owned stock is Anglo-Norwegian Holdings. Ltd. which was organized in 1929 and which earned $542,000 in 1930, $60,300 last year. The Norwegian companies, which dominate the field, are largely locally owned.
*The Ross did not beat the 3¢-per-pound tax on vegetable and animal oils. Procter & Gamble, largest user of whale oil in the U. S., must pay a duty of $1,350,000, a figure approximately equal to the total value of the oil. *Named for Sir James Clark Ross who discovered it 80 years before.