by Bill McLeod.

Teaching of the Prof
New Zealand anti whaling groups were fiercely picking on Japanese whalers for killing whales inhumanly. Some bright spark decided that New Zealand authorities had better get their act together and appointed Prof Blackmore to lead the charge on effectively euthanizing beached whales. I was lucky enough to have been trusted to do the field work. It was an eye opener for me, not so much about terminal ballistics in whales but in effective killing of animals. He taught me that there were two ways of killing an animal, massively disrupting the brain or depriving the brain of oxygen. 
This helped me understand why I could not replicate on a consistent basis the folklore which surrounded rifle performance on game. We’ve all heard it. This magic gun drops them on the spot. If you use a 130 as opposed to a 150 the deer will finish up much closer to where you hit it. If you use a ——- they will run off laughing but if, like me, you use a ——— you only have to point it at them and they will surrender immediately. Great fun and vigorous conversations but missing the point that you have to disrupt the brain or deprive it of oxygen. Knowledge of anatomy is more important than subtleties in ballistics in being effective.
I was told that I had to wait till the whales came ashore before I opened fire on them, I wasn’t allowed to go stalking them in a row boat off Ninety Mile Beach.
Bill
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