Albany mourns the loss of local legend Paddy Hart — the whaling skipper who became an anti-whaling activist

A legend of Albany’s whaling industry, James “Paddy” Hart has died after a battle with cancer. He was a skipper when Australia’s last whaling station closed more than 41 years ago, and he played a key role in preserving Albany’s whaling history after his 17 years in the industry. The 80-year-old was a father of five to Stephen, Angela, Leanne, Shaun and Tanya. His daughter Angela said he was a wonderful father and her life had been full of adventures with him. He was also a loving grandfather of 14 and great-grandfather of eight. “He came to Albany from Ireland in 1959, on a boat called the Irish Spruce. He met my mum Lorna who was working at the White Star Hotel and he never got back on the boat to leave,” he said. “The whaling industry was a big part of his life when we were younger. “I don’t think there was anyone that could learn about what he did and his life and not be interested — it was a very interesting life.” She said that after the industry stopped, his love for whales evolved. “He said later that there was no need for the whaling because whale oil had become unviable and anything that could be made with whale oil could be made with a jojoba bean. He decided it was inhumane and wanted to promote whaling tourism. “Dad lived with us for the past four years after Mum passed away. His favourite thing to do was for him and I to buy fish and chips, sit on Marine Drive before sunset and wait for the harbour lights to come on. Farewell to a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather — our hero.” Mr Hart was central to many historic moments in the final stages of Albany’s whaling history. Among them was the the well-known rescue on the night of March 14, 1978, when Cheynes II crewmen saved tourist Stephen Mathew after he was swept into the ocean at The Gap. A new plaque was installed at The Gap last year to honour Paddy and his crew, who dragged Mr Mathew from the water at the notoriously dangerous location. He was also involved in the rescue of Ches Stubbs in 1965, who got his leg caught in a harpoon rope which tore it off 20cm above his ankle. The crew had to get Mr Stubbs from the whaler to the spotter plane in rough conditions — a story Mr Hart retold to the Advertiser in 2012. “It was hectic,” he said. “We’d had a lot of shots and misses that day and in the rush he ended up getting his leg caught in the rope and I called the plane, which was returning to Albany to refuel, and it came back and dropped a raft that looked like a tractor tube. “We lodged Stubbsy and the chief engineer in there and when the engineer tried to paddle it just went around in a circle so I hopped in there and I swam the raft over to the plane and they boarded it and took off.” The tip of the wing hit the water when they were taking off, so the pilot decided it was too heavy for take-off. The chief engineer was ordered back to the ship — and that was when the crew discovered he could not swim. Mr Hart jumped into the water and saved him, while Mr Stubbs survived. A man who knows more about Mr Hart’s time in the whaling industry than most is Chris Pash, a journalist at the Advertiser when the end of whaling put Albany on the global media stage. Mr Pash wrote the book The Last Whale and got to know Mr Hart during his research. He went on two trips on the whale chasers in Albany — one in June 1977 and another in 1978, just a few weeks before whaling ended. “In August 1977, Greenpeace turned up in Albany and campaigned against the whaling station and Paddy was one of the three captains on whale chasers operating at the time,” he said. “The whale chasers would leave the sound and the protesters would go out in inflatable zodiacs and follow them out to the continental shelf. The protesters would put themselves between the chasers and the whales. “Paddy, who knows his stuff when it comes to the sea, became really quite prominent during that protest because the zodiacs were zigzagging in front of him and he let fire a harpoon which the protesters claimed went over their heads. “Some years back, I brought some of the protesters and Paddy together, and they shook hands and apologised and it was very emotional.” Mr Pash said when he launched the book in Albany in 2008, the then chief executive of Greenpeace Australia Steve Shallhorn made the trip to be there. He said Mr Shallhorn convinced Mr Hart to go to Japan to join the anti-whaling protests. “Paddy was a proper seaman, and the Japanese were very respectful and listened to him,” Mr Pash said. “Working on the chasers was a prestigious job and to be a master was a really big thing and you are paid really well. “Not only did they lose their livelihoods but they lost their position in society when whaling ended. “Later on, Paddy said ‘we shouldn’t have been doing it’.” Mr Hart’s funeral will be held at Albany’s Historic Whaling Station on Monday. ADVERTISER EDITORIAL If you are lucky, the town or city you live in will have something that sets it apart. But there are many places where finding those unique characteristics, attractions or pieces of history is like finding a whale in a wide open ocean. Albany has plenty of things that set it apart — its unusually peaceful European settlement, connection to the Anzac legacy and colourful whaling history to name a few. We just lost a link to one of them. Paddy Hart was a man who famously changed his mind. A veteran skipper on a whaling vessel, he later became one of the industry’s most reputable opponents. After clashes with Greenpeace in the dying days of Australia’s last whaling station, Mr Hart made a stunning U-turn, travelling to Japan in 2008 to stand with the next generation of activists. He spoke to the Advertiser in November 2018, recalling the end of the industry. “I recall that final day quite well; I recall the final whale caught, I recall the final day out at sea and I recall the months before when it was announced,” he said. “Back then we were devastated. We were losing our well-paying job and no one knew what they were going to do after it. “That last day at sea, it was like a festive occasion — we knew we were finished.” His U-turn carries an important lesson: he listened to the opinions of others — in this case, anti-whaling activists — and he changed his mind. “At first I resented them, but the world has changed and the fact is there is no guaranteed humane way to kill a whale,” Mr Hart said. “Back then it was a way of life — we needed their oil, but now it’s just not necessary and it’s not right. “It was the right time to end it.”