Pelorus Jack
{{Short description|Dolphin famous for meeting and escorting ships}}
{{about||the bulldog mascots|Pelorus Jack (HMS New Zealand mascot)}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox animal
| name = Pelorus Jack
| image = Pelorus Jack.jpg
| caption = Pelorus Jack in 1909
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| species = Risso's dolphin
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| years_active = 1888–1912
| known = Escorting ships near French Pass
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| appearance = White colour with grey lines or shadings; round, white head
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{{Location map
|New Zealand
|label=Cook Strait
|lat_dir=S | lat_deg=41 | lat_min=13 | lat_sec=46
|lon_dir=E | lon_deg=174 | lon_min=28 | lon_sec=59
|position=bottom
|width= 160
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|caption=Location of Cook Strait
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Pelorus Jack (fl. 1888 – April 1912; pronounced {{IPAc-en|p|ə|'|l|ɔːr|ə|s}}){{cite LPD|2|pelorus|565}} was a Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) that was famous for meeting and escorting ships through a stretch of water in Cook Strait, New Zealand. The animal was reported over a 24 year period, from 1888 until his disappearance after 1912. Pelorus Jack was usually spotted in Admiralty Bay between Cape Francis and Collinet Point, near French Pass, a notoriously dangerous channel used by ships travelling between Wellington and Nelson.{{Cite web|last=Casey|first=Susan|date=2015-09-09|title=Why do dolphins seek out encounters with humans?|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/dolphins-often-seem-to-want-to-befriend-us-do-they-know-something-we-dont-10493809.html|url-status=live|access-date=2020-08-31|website=The Independent|archive-date=17 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617094208/https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/dolphins-often-seem-to-want-to-befriend-us-do-they-know-something-we-dont-10493809.html}}{{Cite journal|last=Lawson|first=Will|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RT8fAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Pelorus+Jack%22&pg=PA459|journal=Pacific Marine Review: The National Magazine of Shipping|date=September 1924|publisher=J. S. Hines|location=San Francisco|title=Pelorus Jack: A Complete History of the Wonderful Pilot Fish of New Zealand|pages=459, 466|access-date=3 December 2021|archive-date=4 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104082526/https://books.google.com/books?id=RT8fAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Pelorus+Jack%22&pg=PA459|url-status=live}}
While it is claimed in the British book Breverton's nautical curiosities : a book of the sea that he was named after the pelorus, a marine navigational instrument,{{Cite book|last=Breverton |first=Terry |authorlink=Terry Breverton |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/909290007|title=Breverton's nautical curiosities : a book of the sea|date=20 September 2012|isbn=978-1-84916-626-3|publisher=Quercus|location=London|oclc=909290007|access-date=11 June 2020|archive-date=4 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104082519/https://www.worldcat.org/title/brevertons-nautical-curiosities-a-book-of-the-sea/oclc/909290007|url-status=live}} Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand explains that, based on local knowledge, the name came from Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere because it was at the entrance to that stretch of water where he would regularly meet ships to accompany them.{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4696/the-story-of-pelorus-jack |title=The story of Pelorus Jack |first=Gerard |last=Hutching |encyclopedia=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |date=1 September 2015 |access-date=14 June 2020 |quote=... Pelorus Jack ....was so named because he would meet boats near the entrance to Pelorus Sound, in the Marlborough Sounds. ...' |archive-date=14 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614013713/https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4696/the-story-of-pelorus-jack |url-status=live }}
Pelorus Jack was shot at from a passing ship, and was later protected by a 1904 New Zealand law.{{Cite web|last=Monaco|first=Annalisa Lo|date=2020-08-18|title=Pelorus Jack: lo straordinario Delfino "pilota" della Nuova Zelanda|url=https://www.vanillamagazine.it/pelorus-jack-lo-straordinario-delfino-pilota-della-nuova-zelanda/|access-date=2020-08-31|website=Vanilla Magazine|language=it-IT|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709124116/https://www.vanillamagazine.it/pelorus-jack-lo-straordinario-delfino-pilota-della-nuova-zelanda/|url-status=live}}
Appearance
Pelorus Jack was approximately {{convert|13|ft|0|order=flip}} long and was of a white colour with grey lines or shadings, and a round, white head.{{cite web|url = http://www.pelorus-jack.com/about/legend.html | title = The Legend of Pelorus Jack | publisher = pelorus-jack.com | accessdate = 17 August 2011 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080121191804/http://www.pelorus-jack.com/about/legend.html | archivedate = 21 January 2008 | url-status = dead}} Although its sex was never determined, it was identified from photographs as a Risso's dolphin, Grampus griseus. This is an uncommon species in New Zealand waters, and only 12 Risso's dolphins have been reported in that area.{{cite web|author = Parkinson, Brian | url = http://www.ecotours.co.nz/Brian/wildlife/nelson/pelorus.htm | publisher = Ecotours New Zealand | title = Unique Wildlife of New Zealand – Pelorus | accessdate = 29 December 2006 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009020433/http://www.ecotours.co.nz/Brian/wildlife/nelson/pelorus.htm|archivedate=9 October 2006}}{{Cite journal |last=Maori|first=A. G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFQ7AQAAIAAJ&dq=%22Pelorus+Jack%22&pg=PA566|journal=The Mid-Pacific Magazine|publisher=A. H. Ford |date=June 1913 |volume=5 |issue=6 |location=Honolulu |pages=565–569 |title=Pelorus Jack}}
History
Pelorus Jack guided the ships by swimming alongside a water craft for 20 minutes at a time. If the crew could not see Jack at first, they often waited for him to appear.
Despite his name, he did not live in nearby Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere; instead, he would often guide ships through dangerous passages of French Pass. However, some local residents familiar with his habits claim that he never went through French Pass itself but stayed near the Chetwode Islands.{{Cite book|last=Sadler|first=F. W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izvVAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Pelorus+Jack%22|title=The Nautical Magazine|publisher=Brown, Son and Ferguson|year=1952|volume=167-168|location=University of Michigan|chapter=Pelorus Jack|access-date=3 December 2021|archive-date=4 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104082515/https://books.google.com/books?id=izvVAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Pelorus+Jack%22|url-status=live}}
Pelorus Jack was first seen around 1888 when he appeared in front of the schooner Brindle when the ship approached French Pass, a channel located between D'Urville Island and the South Island. When the members of the crew saw the dolphin bobbing up and down in front of the ship, they wanted to kill him, but the captain's wife talked them out of it. To their amazement, the dolphin then proceeded to guide the ship through the narrow channel. And for years thereafter, he safely guided almost every ship that came by. With rocks and strong currents, the area is dangerous to ships, but no shipwrecks occurred when Jack was present.Robbins, John (2011) [https://books.google.com/books?id=h-9ARz2YAlgC&q=%27%27Diet+for+a+New+America%27+%22John+Robbins%22 Diet for a New America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611215918/https://books.google.com/books?id=h-9ARz2YAlgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%27%27Diet+for+a+New+America%27+%22John+Robbins%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IyXrUZzUF8euiQeRnYHQAw&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA |date=11 June 2020 }} H J Kramer, {{ISBN|9781932073416}}.
Many sailors and travellers saw Pelorus Jack, and he was mentioned in local newspapers and depicted in postcards.
Jack was last seen in April 1912. There were various rumours connected to his disappearance, including fears that foreign whalers might have harpooned him. However, research suggests that Pelorus Jack was an old animal; his head was white and his body pale, both indications of age, so it is likely that he died of natural causes.
Since 1989, Pelorus Jack has been used as a symbol for the Interislander, a ferry service across the Cook Strait, and is incorporated into the livery of the ships in the fleet.[http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/railferries.htm New Zealand's Cook Strait Rail Ferries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727192412/http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/railferries.htm |date=27 July 2009 }}, New Zealand Maritime Record
A statue of Pelorus Jack was unveiled at French Pass in 2016.{{cite news |last1=Watson |first1=Mike |title=Stuff |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/experiences/cruises/85152881/much-loved-dolphin-returns-to-french-pass |access-date=27 March 2025 |work=www.stuff.co.nz |date=11 October 2016}}
= Shooting incident =
In 1904, someone aboard the SS Penguin tried to shoot Pelorus Jack with a rifle. Despite the attempt on his life, Pelorus Jack continued to help ships. According to folklore, however, he no longer helped the Penguin, which shipwrecked in Cook Strait in 1909.[http://www.museumofwellington.co.nz/fact_sheets/pelorus_jack.pdf Pelorus Jack fact sheet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100521224248/http://www.museumofwellington.co.nz/fact_sheets/pelorus_jack.pdf |date=21 May 2010 }} at the Museum of Wellington{{Cite web|url=http://www.southwest.com.au/~kirbyhs/dolphins3.html|title=Wild Dolphins page 3|website=www.southwest.com.au|access-date=28 April 2006|archive-date=28 April 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060428002145/http://www.southwest.com.au/~kirbyhs/dolphins3.html|url-status=live}}
= Protection =
Following the shooting incident, a law was proposed to protect Pelorus Jack. He became protected by Order in Council under the Sea Fisheries Act on 26 September 1904. Pelorus Jack remained protected by that law until his disappearance in 1912.{{Cite book|last=Atkinson|first=Tania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xLiWGwAACAAJ|title=Pelorus Jack: The Story of New Zealand's Famous Dolphin|date=1994-12-22|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-1-86950-165-5|access-date=31 August 2020|archive-date=4 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104082628/https://books.google.com/books?id=xLiWGwAACAAJ|url-status=live}} It is believed that he was the first individual sea creature protected by law in any country.{{cite web | url = http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/P/PelorusJack/PelorusJack/en | accessdate = 29 December 2006 | author = Alpers, A.F.G. | title = Pelorus Jack | publisher = An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand | year = 1966 | archive-date = 24 July 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080724174656/http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/P/PelorusJack/PelorusJack/en | url-status = live }}
Cultural references
- In 1945, when Bob Lowry founded his new press, Pelorus Press, in Auckland, his printer's device was a dolphin, referencing 16th century Venetian printer Aldus Manutius, and he named the press after Pelorus Jack. "It was a happy thought to maintain the old dolphin tradition. What more inevitable then ... than Pelorus Jack of the Sounds?"{{cite book |chapter-url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-GriHand-t1-g1-t12.html |chapter=Eleven: Bob Lowry and the Pelorus Press (1945–53) |page=170 |title=A Book in the Hand: Essays on the History of the Book in New Zealand |year=2000 |publisher=Auckland University Press |isbn=1-86940-231-6 |first=Peter |last=Hughes |access-date=12 December 2020 |archive-date=10 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110004842/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-GriHand-t1-g1-t12.html |url-status=live }} Referencing an advertisement for Pelorus Press on the broadside (1949-57) "Here & Now".
- Kipa Hemi Whiro, a kaumātua of Ngāti Kuia is reported in 1913 as being "very positive in his belief" that Pelorus Jack was "the self-same fish of ancient days", Kaikai-a-waro, a sea-god or taniwha who had guided his ancestor Matua-hautere across Cook Strait from the North Island to settle in the South Island many generations earlier.
- "Pelorus Jack" is a Scottish country dance,{{cite web |title=Pelorus Jack |url=https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/dance-crib/pelorus-jack.html |website=Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary |accessdate=14 June 2018 |archive-date=14 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614195159/https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/dance-crib/pelorus-jack.html |url-status=live }} (dance instructions) named in honour of the dolphin. This dance features a set of alternating tandem half-reels (or heys) where two people act as one but swap who leads at the reel ends. It is also known as a Dolphin Reel.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cdss.org/programs/cdss-news-publications/cds-online/cd-s-online-volume-2/the-dolphin-hey-the-evolution-and-transmission-of-a-dance-figure-by-david-millstone-and-allison-thompson|title=The Dolphin Hey: The Evolution and Transmission of a Dance Figure|last=Thompson|first=David Millstone and Allison|website=Country Dance & Song Society|access-date=2019-05-30|archive-date=30 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530221217/https://www.cdss.org/programs/cdss-news-publications/cds-online/cd-s-online-volume-2/the-dolphin-hey-the-evolution-and-transmission-of-a-dance-figure-by-david-millstone-and-allison-thompson|url-status=live}}
- Arthur Ransome mentions Pelorus Jack as accompanying ships and receiving protection in his 1932 novel Peter Duck. However, the character of Peter Duck incorrectly locates the dolphin as living in Sydney Harbour.{{cite book |last1=Ransome |first1=Arthur |title=Peter Duck : a treasure hunt in the Caribbees |year=1987 |publisher=Godine |isbn=0-87923-660-4 |page=200 |edition=2006}}
- The story of Pelorus Jack is (with some changes) recounted in the 1960's Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery anthology comic series."Miracle from the Deep". Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #16 (Gold Key Comics, 1963)
- Singer/songwriter Andrea Prodan tells the tale of the dolphin in the song "Pelorus Jack" on his 1996 all-vocal record Viva Voce.
- Two bulldogs, named Pelorus Jack I (1913–1916) and Pelorus Jack II (1916–1919), served as mascots of HMS New Zealand, the battlecruiser that the New Zealand government paid to have built for the Royal Navy.{{Cite web|title=Pelorus Jack, the mascot {{!}} NZHistory, New Zealand history online|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/pelorus-jack-the-mascot|access-date=2020-06-11|website=nzhistory.govt.nz|archive-date=11 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611011343/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/pelorus-jack-the-mascot|url-status=live}}
- The Cornish poet, broadcaster and teacher Charles Causley (1917–2003) retells the story of Pelorus Jack in a 44-line, traditionally crafted poem titled "Pelorus Jack" in his Collected Poems 1951–2000.
See also
References
{{Reflist|33em}}
Further references
- Ross E Hutchins and Jerome P Connolly – The saga of Pelorus Jack (1971)
- Edmund Lindop and Jane Carlson – Pelorus Jack (1964)
External links
- [http://www.southwest.com.au/~kirbyhs/dolphins3.html Famous wild dolphins] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060428002145/http://www.southwest.com.au/~kirbyhs/dolphins3.html |date=28 April 2006 }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928071445/http://www.rscds-canberra.org/texts/Pelorus-30-7-06.pdf The Quest for Pelorus] (PDF)
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Category:History of the Marlborough District
Category:Individual animals in New Zealand