140
APPENDICES.
LIST OF FETUSES OF BLUE WHALES EXAMINED BY MAJOR Barrett-Hamilton at
LEITH HARBOUR, SOUTH GEORGIA.
APPENDICES.
141
Date
Sex and Length of Fina.
Date
Dam-Number and Length. Festus-Sex and Length (English and Metric),
1869, November 3...
Male
Twins:--
No.
ft.
ft. in.
mom.
1905, June ?
Male
1913, December 12
44
93
?
1 8
or 508
Locality and Authority.
5,960 Scotland, Longuiddry (Turner, 19 ft. 6 in.).
1,830) Faroes (recorded by Harvia-Brown from a dam of 1,220 60 ft.; ? a finner).
18
55
86
Female
1 114
597
1895, July 6
?
1,670
1914, January 2
157
89
Male
8 6
2,590
?
1,670 Finmark, Mehavn (Collett).
31
"
9 12
281 267
90 82.5
Female
... 10 6
8,200
1878
middle
2,200
+
"
Vadso (Collett).
Malo
•
3 8 circa 1,120 circa
?
2,200
I
Further two mentioned in reports to British Museum made by the Sandefjord Company :-
1875 ?
7
2 200
1.
(Collett).
?
2,200
1914, January 12
17
83 87
? ?
10 0 ... 14 0
8,050 4,270
+1
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LIST OF FETUSES OF BLue Whales from the NORTH ATLANTIC.
Date.
Sex and Length of Foetus.
mm.
Locality and Anthority,
1,880 Finmark, Syltefjord (Guldberg).
2,185 Newfoundland (True,"7 ft.).
1,110 Finmark (Castberg, 34 ft. N., in Cocks).
Syltefjord (Guldberg).
Kobholmfjord (Guldberg),
(Andresen, 50 in. N., in Cocks).
Vardo (Guldberg).
"
Newfoundland (True, 3 ft. 1 in.). 2,745 Finmark (Wiborg, 9 ft. E., in Cocks).
Vardo (Guldberg).
660
J
660
11
1,130 Newfoundland (True, 8 ft. 8 in.). 1,700 Finmark (Horn, 5 ft. 7 in. E., in Cocks).
Vardo (Guldberg).
Newfoundland (True, 3 ft. 6 in.).
1,560 Finmark (Berg, 4 ft. 11 in. N., in Cocks). 3,500
Syltefjord (Guldberg). (Berg, 10 ft. 5 in. Ñ., in Cocks). Newfoundland (True, 13 ft.). 2,680 Finmark, Vadsö (Guldberg).
Syltefjord (Guldberg). Vardo (Guldberg).
1883, May 24 1900
?
81
?
13
1886, June 2
?
1888
3
2,272
暨常
9
1,153
2
"
1886
10
1,320
"
**
1881
18
2,270
10
"
1874
20
1,550
"
1881
20
4,130
Vadsö Vardö
**
"
1901
20
940
TF
1886
21
1883
22
Male
28
Female
1901
29
?
1886
?
?
1884
?
?
1,900
IT
1901, July 4
?
1,080
1887
7
Male
1884
8
?
"
1887
10
Male
1900
10
1881
12
"
1883
13
9 Female Female
3,300 3,965
"
11
14
Male
2,100 1,285
J
11
13
1882
15
Female
1,870
*
1911
15
1874
middle
Male
1878
18
?
1
1881
19
Male
4,070
#
1906
19
?
J
1881
26
Male
J
1883
27
?
4,450
1881
28
Male
1,140
1882
30
Female
2,455
2
**
1870
end
?
7,250
71
}
"
end-August
?
5,720
1884
?
?
1,516
*
7
?
1,880
13
1
?
2,500
#
"
"
*
21-August 2
3,965
1885
૬
960
"
(Guldberg).
"
1886
?
4,727
•
"
1,500--2,500
(Horn, 15 ft. 6 in. E., in Cocks). (Collett).
5,490
Hebrides (Haldane, 18 ft.).
7
2,900
"
11
before 14
?
4,575
18-27
7
4,727
31
1913
18
Malo
=1
1886
20
20
77
4,760 2,800-4,800
June and July average
1906, August 1
1884
1890
August average
Syltefjord (Guldberg). 2,440 Ireland, Belmullet (Burfield, 8 ft.). 2,347 Finmark, Vadso (Sars, Guldberg).
600
(Guldberg).
"
6,700 Hebrides (Haldane, 22 ft.).
1,725 Finmark, Vadsö (Guldberg).
Kobholmfjord (Guldberg).
Vadso (Guldberg).
Vardo (Guldberg).
Vadsö (8. Foyn, in Guldberg).
Yeretiki (Cocks 18 ft. 9 in ).
(Guldberg).
(Guldberg)
(Guldberg).
Yeretiki (Cocks, 18 ft.).
Finmark, Jarfjord (Cocks, 9-10 ft., dam
wounded).
Vardö (Cocks, 15 ft.). Yeretiki (Cocks, 15 ft. 6 in.). 2,440 Ireland, Belmullet (J. E. Hamilton, 8 ft.). 2,440 Finmark (Wiborg, 8 ft. E., in Cocks).
(Hoff, 15 ft. N., in Cocks).
"
(Collett).
BREEDING.
Ten of the females examined by Major Barrett-Hamilton at South Georgia had lengths ranging from 63 to 73-5 ft.; these were all immature, and dissection of No. 42 (73 ft.), all but the largest of them, showed clearly that that specimen was a young The virgin. The smallest pregnant female was No. 287, which was 825 ft. long. female blue whale of the South Atlantic may therefore attain sexual maturity at the As will be seen from the time when she reaches a length of from 75 to 80 ft. information given on p. 139 above, she thus becomes sexually mature considerably before all the epiphyses of her vertebræ have fused.
As stated above, the blue whales of the North Atlantic are considerably smaller than those of South Georgia. The smallest pregnant females in the north have been about 72 ft. long. Professor Guldberg said that it was not easy to give a minimum, but he believed that pregnancy did not occur before the length amounted to 70 ft. Professor Collett says that pregnant females (I think he meant the smaller pregnant females) have an average length of about 70 ft., but that individuals with a length of merely 60 ft. have been found to be pregnant; the only instance of such a small dam which he quotes is the case recorded by Mr. Harvie-Brown from the Faroes (June, 1905), in which a "blue whale" of 60 ft. was found to be pregnant with twins. On the ground of the small length, Major Barrett-Hamilton thought the Faroe whale to be really a finner, and, in the absence of any other records of such an exceptional kind, I fully agree with him.
Professor Guldberg had the data relating to 28 observations upon the foetuses of northern blue whales before him; most of these foetuses dated from the months of June, July, and August, during which season these whales are present off the coast of Arctic Norway. He observed that contemporaneous foetuses differed greatly in size. In addition, he had the narratives of seamen and whalers, who described the copulation of these animals which they said frequently took place in the months of July and August; this assertion was supported by some of Professor Guldberg's own investigations. He concluded that the pairing was restricted to no definite season; that while there was evidence of its taking place at Finmark in the summer it was also clear that many of the blue whales paired at other places and at quite different
seasons.
One of Professor Guldberg's dissections is not uninstructive in connexion with the question noticed above, as to when the female blue whale of the north attains sexual maturity. On 15th July, 1883, Captain Sörensen observed a pair in coition: The male was they were on their sides rubbing their bellies against each other.
Next day, near the same spot, a young female 70 ft. long was chased, but escaped. caught. A tenacious, clear mucus, shot with little blood-streaks, was adhering to The mucous her genital opening; this mucus filled the whole vagina and uterus. membrane of the uterus was very red in colour. The lower part of the uterus was very moist, the uterine walls were thick, being somewhat congested and swollen with blood. On the whole, these parts gave the impression that the animal was on "heat." Both the ovaries were smooth and showed no scar of burst follicles, so that Professor Guldberg believed that the animal had not been previously impregnated. A micro- scopic examination of part of the mucus failed to reveal any spermatozoa, but this was hardly surprising, having regard to the great quantity of mucus present. Many whalers believe that the animal has become pregnant when blood-tinged mucus issues from the vagina; Professor Guldberg had often examined such cases, but since he had never found a fœtus he concluded that such circumstances point to "heat" rather than to pregnancy.
A