PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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TLCO 885
23 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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192
APPENDICES.
the boats had to farther out, and so found the finners; of these not less than 49 examples were taken this year. It was somewhat periodic in its occurrence, the 49 captured being distributed as follows in time: 27th to 29th March, 6; 15th May to 2nd June, 11; 2nd to 12th July, 8; 18th to 24th July, 5; 7th to 28th August, 2; 4th to 30th September, 10; 1st to 20th October, 2; 10th to 30th November, 4; 17th December, 1. In the autumn (March to June) it keeps at from 40 to 60' from the land and goes in parties of two or three; in the spring (September) it was found nearer to the land-within 10 or 15'-and was often grouped in small schools. It appeared always to come from the north and to move slowly southwards. Off Saldanha Bay it likes to keep to definite places, and north or south of these it was difficult to find, even when the boat was kept on the course which appeared to be that followed by the whales. The finners caught in March to June were nearly all lean and small, and yielded only 30 to 40 barrels of oil; in winter, on the other The fattest were females with hand, large and fatter examples preponderated. fœtuses; if accompanied by young they were leaner.
At Durban finners were scarce, but they were seen now and again in small schools of from three to five, going to and fro after plankton; on the whole they Here also it keeps far from appeared to move slowly southwards down the coast. land, although sometimes, especially at beginning of season, it is met with within a few miles of the coast. Five have been taken here in all-one on 7th June, 1910, and four in June, 1912 (none in 1911).
At Linga Linga one was taken on 11th June, 1912. None found at Congo or Benguela. Thus it does not go far north along the coasts. It is present all the year round. Its movements are local and apparently dependent upon plankton.
A letter from Saldanha Bay says that in 1913 more finners were taken than ever before; at Bryde's station they received 92 up to 30th July. Complete information cannot be given as to its migrations until reports come from South Georgia.
Blue whales. Like the finner, this whale occurs principally at the southern- most part of Africa, and it is caught only at Saldanha Bay in large numbers; at other stations it is only taken casually. Olsen had no sufficient opportunity of studying this whale. Dimensions of a partly flensed female seen at Saldanha Bay on 12th September, 1912:-
Total length
Tip of snout to angle of mouth
Tip of snout to dorsal fin (anterior)...
Height of dorsal fin
Pectoral, length to axilla
Pectoral, greatest breadth
Metres.
17.5 = 100
3.72 =
12-8
0.22 23
=
21.2 per cent. 73.1 1.2
3
-
13-1 * 0.68 = 3-8
The differences which these relative measurements offer on comparison with those given by True are, if constant, sufficient basis for a new sub-species. Material insufficient: this female may have been abnormal. The colour was similar to that of northern specimens, and the whalers think the African specimens very similar to those of the north also.
Like the finner it usually keeps far out-40′ to 60'-from land. But occa- sionally, usually in mid-winter (June to August), it comes quite near the land and Great schools of blue whales may show them- may remain there for a long time. selves off Saldanha Bay for a week in order to disappear again suddenly. At the end of July such a great school, comprising some hundreds of individuals, appeared; a month later another herd of about 20 came (Whaler Christoffersen). They come nearly always from the north and, like the finners, are met with at definite times off Saldanha Bay. They are caught early in the season (May-June) and are, as a rule, very lean. This applies to females with young. The pregnant females are, on the contrary, usually fat, and sometimes they attain a gigantic size. At Han Ellefsen's station at Saldanha Bay a female 91 ft. long was taken on 11th September, 1912, and three days later Bryde got one 95 ft. long, which yielded 240 barrels of oil. This last is one of the largest blue whales that has ever been caught: its blubber varied between 200 and 300 mm, in thickness. This whale had just given birth to its calf and it lay weak and still on the surface of the sea; when the whale boat arrived and The calf was killed lodged a harpoon in its back it made no attempt to escane.
with it and was 7.03 metres long; its navel string was still attached and the flukes of the tail were folded together.
APPENDICES.
193
During 1910 only two were taken at Saldanha Bay, on let and 9th September. In 1911 three were caught, two in August and one in September. Owing to the scarcity of humpbacks in 1912 one sought for whales farther out at sea, and 29 blue whales were taken as follows:-21st May, 1; 6th June, 1; 10th to 30th July, 7; 6th to 28th August, 31st to 14th September, 11; 20th September to 10th October, 6.
Blue whales are moderately scarce at Durban. Especially at the beginning of the season one may see two or three moving southwards along the coast. They may at this time come within a few miles of the shore, but they usually kept far out at sea. Bryde caught two in 1910, on 28th June and 12th August, none in 1911, two again in 1912, on 29th June and 5th August. None taken at Linga Linga.
In 1913, up to 30th July 36 blue whales had already been taken at Saldanha Bay. All captured in July were of medium size, and the genital openings of the female had usually long streamers of mucus adhering to them. Such mucus has been observed at Finmark in female blue whales shortly after pairing; but in Bryde's whale (B. brydei) it has been found also in females with large foetuses.
In perusing these notes it should be remembered that Olsen's paper is written from the whalers' point of view. Beyond stating that, in my opinion, it leaves very little room for doubting the necessity of affording some measure of protection to the African whales (dealt with on p. 161 above) I do not propose to make any comment.
MARTIN A. C. HINTON.
18th August, 1915.
194
Megaptera NODOBA?
APPENDICES.