APPENDICES.
55
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
mwimmimC.O. 885
23 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
hemisphere. As to this considerable information may doubtless be obtained from the logs of whalers working other waters, outside these regions. We should thus be able to learn where the different species-or at any rate some of them have their winter haunts. It will at least be interesting here to consider a few examples of the catches made in the warmer waters of more northerly latitudes, and I have selected for this purpose two logs from the west coast of Africa, one from Saldanha Bay, 1912, the other from Port Alexander, 1911. Saldanha Bay lies on the west coast of the southernmost part of Africa, south of 30° S., Port Alexander being situated much farther north, nearer the equator.
Saldanha Bay, 1912.
March
April
May June
July
Hump. back.
Fin Blue Whale. Whale.
Seibval. Total.
August
September
October :
15
November
4
| | | 10 0 10 la
||~~~||~ |
3
8
23
23
11
22
6
15
21
15
3
17
3 7
| "
Total
47
18
5
61
27
131
Some or all of these whales may perhaps belong to the species Balaenoptera brydei, described by Örjan Olsen (Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1913).
No whaling is carried on here in the summer months from November-March; not until May do the Hump- backs appear. This species has two periods of maximal occurrence; one in June-July and another in October. This the whalers explain by the theory that the Hump- backs move northward in June and south again in October; i.e., s migration towards the warmest part of the sea.
The other whales are especially found during the winter months of the southern hemisphere, May- August.
Proceeding now to consider the catches of whales near the equator, at Port Alexander, we find the follow- ing figures:-
June
Hump- Fin books. Whalen..
Seibval.
Total.
July August September
October - November
10
48
73
48
60
83
10
Total
318
2
2
$22
The season here, it will be noticed, is still later, falling almost entirely between June and October. The catch consists almost exclusively of Humpbacks. Here also we find the maxima in July and October.
MIGRATION OF THE WHALES.
If we now compare these log extracts, it would seem to be fairly evident that the whales of the Antarctic move north during the southern winter, even penetrat ing far up towards the equator. This is at any rate clear enough as regards the Humpback. The periods of its occurrence in the Antarctic ocean and the warmner southern seas alternate with perfect regularity.
The other species of whales are far less numerously represented in the catches made on the coasts of Africa, This is doubtless largely due to the fact that the Blue whales and Fin whales do not frequent the costs to the same extent as the Humpbacka, keeping more to the open ses, and probably do not move so far up into the warmer waters. This agrees with the observation hitherto made in Arctic regions, where the Humpback and Blue whale are only found from June to autumn, moving in winter towards warmer parts of the sea.†
A point of the greatest importance in considering the problem as to the size of the whale stock, and the influence of the whaling industry thereupon, is the question of how far the whales, in the course of their migrations from the Antarctic to warmer waters, keep to the same degrees of longitude all the way, or possibly follow the direction of the ocean currents. Do those whales, for instance, which are to be found during the Antarctic summer in the South Georgia-South Shet- land area move in winter towards South America or South Africa? With regard to this, the material which I have hitherto been able to study furnishes no infor- mation. The only possible indication would be the finding of harpoons in previously wounded whales, in which case the whaling industry would itself provide a solution of the problem. The only satisfactory manner of dealing with the question would be by means of marking experiments; the shooting of small darts into the bodies of living whales, which would be recovered when the animals were subsequently captured by the whalers. If it is desired to arrive at an understanding of such questions as to the size of the stock and the percentage of same taken by the whaling industry-the "catch percentage"--then experiments of this nature would have to be made. Without them we can only have recourse to mere conjecture.
This important point is now under the consideration of the Norwegian Whalers' Society, and experiments are being made with various kinds of guns and emak cannons firing darts suitable for the purpose. Only by such experiments, and by a careful study of the industry itself and actual catches, will it be possible to obtain a solid and reliable basis for comprehension of the present and future position of the whaling industry.
This theory is supported by the Norwegian zoologist, Örjan Olsen, who has studied the whales at the Norwegian factories on the coast of Africa and has published a pre- liminary report on the same, which cannot, however, here be further considered at present (Naturen. Sie Hefte, 1912, Bergen).
+ Fiskeri og Hvalfangst, loc. cit.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.