Taking a look is five-year-old David Barker of Wayside Cottage, Rosehill Road, Burnley.

First catch your whale, was obviously the marine scientists' initial headache with Jonah, the 58-ton Finback displayed on the Centenary Way car park. Hundreds of people, mostly children, have looked in at the 68-foot whale, though the organisers claimed the exhibition was something of a wash-out due to heavy rain. The whale is not a large specimen for the species - they can be up to 100ft long. Jonah is claimed to be the only chemically preserved whale in the world with 2,000 gallons of formalin pumped into him and finished off with a coat of tar. Anyone thinking of spending a few days in the whale's belly would find that Jonah's travels round the country are on an articulated lorry and his body is supported inside with a steel frame. This week (beginning 10th May 1971) he will be in Worsley, and the trip from Burnley was under police escort. The whale's public relations officer, Mr. Jonathan Marshall, says the whale is on show to raise cash for the World Wildlife Fund. When our reporter spoke to the organisers in their caravan behind the show tent, they said the show was sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, but pointed out it was owned by "private enterprise."

Many of the youngsters were clearly impressed, though some optimists, expected the whale to be alive. Schoolboy Philip Buckley of Berry Street, Burnley said Jonah was "smashing. His heart is the size of an ox" he enthused. Anyone still curious after that may get a second chance to see Jonah when he returns to the area at Preston. And if you've just bought a tennis racket, the strings are made from whale flesh!