THE PASSING OF THE WHALE
The world hunt for the whale began a thousand years ago in the Bay of
Biscay and it bids fair to end ere the close of the twentieth century.
After the extermination of the North Atlantic right whale on the coast
of Spain, the hunters pushed northward to Finland and Iceland, and it is
even possible that whalers visited Newfoundland long before Columbus saw
American shores.
The relentless warfare to which the right whale was subjected for
hundreds of years culminated in the sixteenth century, and only stopped
short of actual extermination through the discovery, in the far north,
of its larger and more valuable relative, the bowhead. Then the right
whale dropped from sight, supposedly being extinct, and although it
appeared again a hundred years later, it has never recovered from the
effects of its early persecution.
The capture of the bowhead began in 1612 in the open waters between
Spitzbergen and Greenland, and soon extended to Davis Strait and Baffin
Bay. After two hundred years of unceasing pursuit this whale was driven
to the remotest parts of the Arctic Ocean and was so nearly exterminated
that now, when northern whaling has practically ended, its recovery in
numbers is exceedingly doubtful.
All this happened before the modern harpoon-gun diverted attention to
the fin whales which during the last half-century have been so
ruthlessly butchered by means of every invention at man’s disposal that
their commercial extinction is inevitable within a very few decades if
the slaughter is continued unchecked.
By commercial extinction I mean decrease in the number of whales to the
point when their pursuit will no longer be profitable. While this may
not mean total extermination because of the great expense connected with
the modern methods of capture and handling the carcasses, yet the whales
will have been so reduced in numbers that they can never again become
abundant. Enormous and highly specialized animals are usually slow
breeders and especially liable to extinction, and since it has taken
millions of years to evolve the whale, it is extremely unlikely that
such evolution can again be duplicated upon this planet.
Even if we deny whales the right to live, and disregard the scientific
importance of this marvelously specialized group of mammals, it is
apparent that, reduced to a sordid standard, our problem demands
immediate attention. It is of the utmost importance that while there is
yet time the governments of the world should realize that if proper
legislation is enacted to regulate the killing of whales, a great and
lucrative industry can not only be conducted profitably in the present,
but preserved for the future.
The history of modern whaling in Newfoundland, where American shore
stations were first established, is an excellent example of what will
happen sooner or later in every other part of the world if commercial
greed remains unchecked. In 1908, Dr. Frederic A. Lucas, who from
personal investigation is one of the best informed students of the
subject, published a carefully prepared account of the Newfoundland
fishery and I cannot do better than quote here a portion of his remarks.
Dr. Lucas says:
Before 1903 we have no data as to the number of whales taken along the
coast of Newfoundland and can only say that the value of whale
products rose successively from $1,581, in 1898, to $36,428, in 1900,
and $125,287 in 1902. Making a rough estimate, based on the value of
the whale fishery, one may say that this represents not less than 350
whales, more probably about 500, since prior to 1902 the waste was
very great. The first whaling station in which modern methods were
adopted was established in 1897 and its success was so great that in
1903 four others had been erected and three more planned, although but
three steamers were then employed. R. T. McGrath in the Report of the
Newfoundland Department of Fisheries for 1903 gave it as his opinion
that no more applications for factories should be granted for some
years to come, saying, “Two factories are about to be erected, one at
Trinity and one at Bonavista—during the coming year. This will make
eight factories in all, viz., Balena, Aquaforte, Snook’s Arm, Chalem
Bay, Cape Broyle, Bonavista and Trinity. In my opinion no further
applications should be granted for some years. If licenses are given
without restriction, it will result in complete depletion of this
industry within a short time; whilst if judiciously dealt with, it
will be a profitable source of revenue, and a great assistance to the
laboring people of the colony for many years to come.” This advice,
however, was not heeded, the only restriction placed on whaling being
that stations should not be nearer one another than twenty miles and
that but one steamer should be employed. These restrictions were
practically of no avail, as one steamer was all that could then be
employed to advantage and a run of twenty miles is nothing to a
12-knot vessel. So whaling stations rapidly multiplied until by 1905
eighteen were in operation, occupying all the more favorable locations
about Newfoundland, Labrador and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and fifteen
steamers were employed. The effects of this over-multiplication were
felt at once, and while in 1903 three steamers took 858 whales, or an
average of 286 each, in 1905 fifteen steamers took but 892 whales, or
an average of only 59 a vessel.
In 1903 3 vessels took 858 whales
„ 1904 10 „ „ 1,257 „
„ 1905 15 „ „ 892 „
„ 1906 14 „ „ 429 „
„ 1907 14 „ „ 481 „
————— ——————
3,935 whales
Taken between 1898–1902, estimated 350 „
————— ——————
4,285 whales
Thus in ten years more than 4,000 whales have been captured in the
immediate vicinity of Newfoundland. The effect was disastrous and
caused the ruin of the smaller companies, the chief sufferers being
the smaller shareholders who had invested their entire capital.
Since then the number of stations in operation has been reduced and
some of the steamers sold, not more than ten stations being operated
in any one year and only six or eight of these at one time. Still the
catch has steadily decreased and in 1913 only two hundred and
twenty-two whales were taken.
One of the arguments in favor of indiscriminate whaling has been the
theory that whales had the whole world to draw upon and that the
depletion in any one locality would soon be supplied by overflow from
another. To a slight extent this may be true, for there seems some
reason to believe that whales do now and then pass from the Pacific to
the Atlantic,[20] but on the whole whales are restricted in their
range as other animals[21] and extermination in one place means
extermination in that locality for all time. Another fallacy was the
belief that the supply of whales was practically limitless and that
one might “slay and slay and slay” continuously. There is not a more
mischievous term than “inexhaustible supply,” and certainly none more
untrue. So we see our inexhaustible forests on the verge of
disappearing, our inexhaustible supplies of coal and oil daily growing
less, and the end of the inexhaustible supply of whales in sight. Man
is recklessly spending the capital Nature has been centuries in
accumulating and the time will come when his drafts will no longer be
honored. It matters not whether the vessel is a bucket or an ocean,
one can only take out as much water as it contains and where all is
outgo and no income, it is merely a question of time when one or the
other will be emptied.[22]
Footnote 20:
“Capt. Bull states that a sulphur-bottom whale shot on the coast of
Norway contained a harpoon fired into it on the coast of Kamchatka and
that a humpback killed off Aquaforte was found to have in the flesh an
unexploded bomb lance fired from a San Francisco whaler in the
Pacific.”
Footnote 21:
“For example, the sulphur-bottom is not found or occurs as a straggler
on the east coast of Newfoundland; although once common on the south
coast.”
Footnote 22:
“The Passing of the Whale.” Zoölogical Society Bulletin, July, 1908,
No. 30, supp., pp. 446–447.
Thus, about fifteen years after the first modern station was erected in
Newfoundland shore whaling practically ended, for today only six or
eight factories are in operation and have a _combined_ yearly catch of
about two hundred whales, instead of over one thousand two hundred as in
1904.
With Newfoundland’s history in mind we may turn to the American Pacific
where, because of different conditions, the story has been only
partially duplicated. From Mexico to Bering Sea there is an enormous
extent of coast line where the feeding grounds lie close to shore and
sustain a proportionally greater number of whales than in the restricted
area of Newfoundland and Labrador. Here, as in every other ocean, the
result of persistent persecution will be inevitable, but under such
conditions it will be longer deferred.
There is a slow but constant yearly decrease in the number of whales
taken along the Pacific Coast, and yet if stations are not concentrated,
undoubtedly the industry will continue to be a profitable one for
several years to come.
Near the islands of the sub-Antarctic, conditions are more favorable for
shore whaling than in any other portion of the world. The waters of
these seas are especially productive of the shrimp (_Euphausia_) and
other plankton upon which most of the large Cetacea feed, and thousands
of fin whales are present where there are dozens in other oceans. This
great abundance of marine life caused the development of the floating
factories which until recently operated without restriction and are the
most pernicious agencies of modern invention in the wholesale
destruction of whales.
A floating factory consists of a large steamer equipped with blubber try
works and can be moved about from place to place as the feeding grounds
change. Four or five vessels hunt from each floating factory, supplying
it with whales from which the blubber is stripped off and tried out on
board the large ship.
When operations first began in the sub-Antarctic, whales could be killed
so easily that in some instances only the thickest portions of the
blubber were taken and the remainder left upon the carcass to be turned
adrift; thus but a fractional portion of the value of each whale was
secured while thousands of animals were killed. A blue whale eighty feet
long, treated in this manner, would probably not be worth more than $40
or $50, while in Japan, where the by-products are highly utilized, a
specimen of equal size would have a value of $4,000.
Very fortunately at South Georgia, one of the largest whaling centers of
the far southern waters, the British Government realized that such
pernicious activities could only result in the quick ruin of the
industry, and enacted laws which compelled the floating factories to use
the carcasses as well as the blubber.
[Illustration:
A skeleton of a finback whale in the American Museum of Natural
History.
]
While to the early hunters on the South Atlantic grounds the supply of
whales must have seemed inexhaustible, yet the concentrated activity of
the last ten years has caused alarming inroads into the great herds
which fed along the edge of the Antarctic Circle.
On South Georgia alone there are at the present time eight stations with
headquarters in Norway, Great Britain, and Argentina, and the South
Shetlands, Falkland, South Orkney, and Kerguelen Islands are the homes
of many floating factories and permanent stations.
It is true that because of its remoteness the cost of whaling operations
in the far south is very heavy and that the slaughter will cease
automatically when the profits are no longer commensurate with the
investment, but owing to the extraordinary concentration of whales on
these feeding grounds, before that time comes the ravages will have been
so great that probably the animals can never again attain a firm hold
upon life.
The excessive slaughter in the South Atlantic has a direct effect upon
the industry in other parts of the world, for it is very probable that
the fin whales go northward from the Antarctic waters into both the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
In Japan it will be a national catastrophe when whaling ceases, because
the diet of the ordinary native would consist of little besides rice,
fish, and vegetables were it not for the thousands of tons of whale meat
which are distributed fresh or canned to almost the entire Empire, and
which furnish a healthful and palatable food at a low cost.
Since labor is very cheap in Japan and especially because each whale is
worth an extraordinary amount for food, operations can be carried on
long after they would be unprofitable in almost any other part of the
world; thus the extermination of whales will undoubtedly be very nearly
complete in the Island Empire.
The flesh of the humpback is most highly esteemed for food by the
Japanese and this species was consequently very ardently pursued.
Although most abundant of all a few years ago, humpbacks are now so rare
that only twenty-five or thirty are taken yearly in all Japan. The blue
whales are disappearing almost as rapidly and it will not be long before
the Japanese will have to depend entirely upon the finback gray, and sei
whales.
Unfortunately there appears to be a universal belief that shore whaling
is a short-lived industry and that everyone must get for himself the
greatest possible share of the profits without regard for the future. It
is commercial greed in its worst form, because in the mad scramble for
quick money, such pernicious operations as those of the floating factory
are inaugurated, and but a small part of the real value of each whale is
secured after its life has been taken.
My plea is for proper legislation which will force the industry to
develop its great untouched possibilities and save it for the future
while yielding a reasonable profit during the present.
But it must be _intelligent_ legislation, for “blanket” laws are worse
than none at all. Conditions vary with every place where shore whaling
is conducted and laws which were excellent for Newfoundland would be
absurd on the coast of British Columbia.
Personally I cannot see how the much-discussed international legislation
can be of assistance. It appears to me that local laws are what is
needed.
Experts should be employed to study carefully conditions in each
locality in order that recommendations may be intelligent. I know of one
government which actually declared a closed season upon whales, during
which the animals could not be hunted, obviously to allow the females to
bring forth their young. Since the fin whales breed irregularly
throughout the year, such bungling attempts at legislation are worse
than useless and serve only to expose the ignorance of those who make
them.
In not a single country of the globe where shore whaling is being
carried on today are there intelligent laws to insure for the future an
industry which is yielding millions of dollars every year, or to save
from extermination the animals which, of all others on the land or in
the sea, have taken the most important place in the history of the
world.
APPENDIX
I. CLASSIFICATION OF THE CETACEA
In order to make clear the relations to each other of the whales and
porpoises I have given below a classification and brief diagnosis of the
principal groups. The currently accepted subfamilies of the Physeteridæ
and Platinistidæ have been omitted for the purpose of simplifying the
classification.
Order Cetacea. Whales and Porpoises.
A. Suborder Mystacoceti. Whalebone Whales.
I. Family Balænidæ. Right and Fin Whales.
a. Subfamily Balæninæ. Right Whales.
Head long—skull much arched—whalebone long and
very fine—no grooves on ventral surface—no
dorsal fin—greatest length, 65 feet.
b. Subfamily Balænopterinæ. Fin Whales.
Head short—skull slightly arched—whalebone short
and coarse—grooves on ventral surface—a dorsal
fin—greatest length, 87 feet.
II. Family Neobalænidæ. Pigmy Right Whale.
Head short—skull greatly arched—whalebone long,
slender and white—no ventral grooves—a dorsal fin—ribs
very broad and flat.
III. Family Rhachianectidæ. California Gray Whale.
Head short and moderately arched—whalebone short,
coarse and widely spaced—2 to 4 grooves on the
throat—no dorsal fin—greatest length, 48 feet.
B. Suborder Odontoceti. Toothed Whales.
I. Family Physeteridæ. Sperm Whales.
Head large and blunt—a single blowhole—40 to 50 teeth
in the lower jaw—no functional teeth in upper jaw—a
dorsal hump—greatest length, 70 feet.
II. Family Ziphiidæ. The Ziphioid Whales.
Head pointed—snout produced in form of a beak—a single
crescent-shaped blowhole on top of head—one or two
pairs of functional teeth in lower jaw—no teeth in
upper jaw—greatest length, 30 feet.
III. Family Delphinidæ. Porpoises.
a. Subfamily Delphininæ.
Medium size—two or more neck vertebræ
joined—single crescent-shaped blowhole on top of
head—teeth in both jaws—usually a high dorsal
fin—greatest length, 30 feet.
b. Subfamily Delphinapterinæ. White Whale and Narwhal.
Medium size-head small and neck vertebræ all
separated—single crescent-shaped blowhole on top
of head—no dorsal fin-flippers very
broad—greatest length, 20 feet.
IV. Family Platinistidæ. Fresh Water Porpoises.
Small size—neck vertebræ all separate—single
crescent-shaped blowhole on top of head—all inhabit
fresh or brackish water—greatest length, 12 feet.
II. DIAGNOSES OF THE WHALES DESCRIBED IN THIS BOOK
BLUE WHALE, SULPHURBOTTOM
_Balænoptera musculus_ (Linn.)
Very large size. Average length, 76 feet; maximum length, 87 feet. The
pectoral fins are about 15 per cent. of the total length, falcate and
bluntly pointed. The dorsal fin is small and variable in form, but
usually more or less falcate; it is situated behind the line of the
anus. Many ventral folds.
The color of the body is mottled gray, the proportions of light and dark
tints varying greatly in different individuals, but the body is usually
lightest at the shoulder and between the flippers and the umbilicus. The
head is a little darker than the body and unmarked. A few entirely white
spots are usually present on the posterior ends of the abdominal folds.
The pectoral fins are gray on the upper surface, except at the tip, and
white below. The flukes are plain gray above, and below are marked with
fine light and dark gray lines running antero-posteriorly. The dorsal
fin is dark gray and the whalebone black.
The rostrum of the skull is very broad with the free margins of the
maxillæ convex; the nasal bones are oblong with truncated anterior
margins. Vertebral formula: cervicals 7, dorsals 15 (–16), lumbars 14
(–16), caudals 26 (–28). Total, 63–65. Habitat: cosmopolitan.
FINBACK, RAZORBACK
_Balænoptera physalus_ (Linn.)
Large size and very slender form. Average total length, 62 feet; the
maximum, 81 feet. The pectoral fins are about 12 per cent. of the total
length, lanceolate and pointed. The dorsal fin is moderate in height and
falcate; it is situated just behind the line of the anus. Many ventral
folds.
The color of the body is dark gray above and white below, the two colors
merging imperceptibly into each other on the flanks. The coloration of
the head is not bilaterally symmetrical, there being more white on the
right side than on the left. The right side of the lower jaw is white
and also the anterior third of the whalebone; the left side of the lower
jaw and left baleen are dark gray. The gray of the flanks extends
obliquely down and back from the pectoral fins toward the flanks, but
does not reach the inferior edge of the peduncle, which is white.
The pectoral fins are gray above and white below. The flukes are dark
gray above and white below, with a gray posterior margin. The whalebone
is gray, striped longitudinally with yellowish white in varying
proportions; the anterior baleen on the right side is all yellowish
white.
The rostrum of the skull is narrow and pointed with the free margins of
the maxillæ nearly straight. The nasal bones are narrow and pointed on
the median line anteriorly. Vertebral formula: cervicals 7, dorsals 15
(–16), lumbars 14 (–15), caudals 25 (–26). Total, 61–63. Habitat:
cosmopolitan.
SEI WHALE, RUDOLPHI’S RORQUAL
_Balænoptera borealis_ (Lesson)
Moderate size. Average total length, 42 to 43 feet; maximum length, 53
feet. The dorsal fin is large, and falcate; it is situated just anterior
to the line of the anus. Many ventral folds.
The color of the head and back is dark gray; on the sides and flanks the
gray of the back becomes lighter and the flanks are beautifully marked
with wavy gray lines. The throat and breast are white, but a wide dark
gray band runs across the belly. The ventral line from the anus to the
flukes is gray. The pectoral fins above and below are dark gray, but
somewhat lighter on the anterior half of the under side. The flukes
above are dark gray like the back, and below are light gray in the
ventral portion, becoming darker on the edges. The whalebone is
bluish-black with white bristles.
The rostrum of the skull is narrow and triangular with straight sides as
in the Finback. The nasal bones are oblong and truncated anteriorly. The
first rib is usually bifurcated. Vertebral formula: cervicals 7, dorsals
14 (–13), lumbars 13 (–14), caudals 22 (–23). Total, 56–57. Habitat:
cosmopolitan.
HUMPBACK
_Megaptera nodosa_ (Bonn.)
Form massive and ungraceful. Head flat and blunt with dermal tubercles’
along the sides and middle. Ventral folds few and broad. Average total
length, 45 feet; maximum length, 55 feet. The pectoral fins are more
than one-fourth the entire length with several prominent bunches along
the anterior edge. The dorsal fin is low, thick and somewhat falcate,
and the flukes are broad with crenate posterior edges.
The color is black with white markings. The head, back and sides are
black and the throat and breast to about opposite the pectoral fins are
splashed and streaked with white in varying degrees. On the lower lips,
sides of the jaw and about the chin, throat and breast are spots,
circles and crescents of white; these are probably the scars left by
barnacles and other parasites. Between the flippers in the middle of the
breast there is usually an irregular transverse patch of white, 10 or 12
inches in diameter.
The flippers are black above with many white spots and circles, and
white below except for a broad patch of black at the base. The flukes
are normally black above with white spots along the edges; below they
are white, spotted and circled with black, except in the basal third,
where there is a large black area. The whalebone is dull black, with
brownish black bristles.
Skull very broad with an obtuse rostrum. The nasal bones are rather
narrow and pointed anteriorly. Vertebral formula: cervicals 7, dorsals
14, lumbars 11 (–10), caudals 21. Total, 53 (–52). Habitat:
cosmopolitan.
NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE, BLACK WHALE
_Eubalæna glacialis_ (Bonn.)
Form massive. Head about one-fourth the total length and rostrum much
arched, with a protuberance near the anterior end, called the “bonnet.”
Lower lip very large, and the free margin is more or less sinuous.
Pectoral fins very broad and short. No ventral furrows and no dorsal
fin. The color is black throughout, with more or less white on the
throat and breast in some individuals. Greatest length, 54 feet.
Rostrum of skull very long, narrow and curved. Nasal bones large, broad
and oblong. Sternum broad and irregularly triangular. Scapula broader
than high. Vertebral formula: cervicals 7, dorsals 14, lumbars 11
(10–12), caudals 23 (–26). Total, 55 (–57). Habitat: in temperate waters
in both hemispheres.
BOWHEAD, GREENLAND RIGHT WHALE
_Balæna mysticetus_ (Linn.)
Form massive. Head enormous, exceeding one-third the total length of the
whale. Upper jaw greatly arched to accommodate the long whalebone. No
“bonnet.” Blowholes elevated and followed by a deep concavity over the
“neck.” No ventral furrows and no dorsal fin. The color is black, with
some white about the throat and lower lips. The whalebone is black, long
and very elastic; in some individuals it reaches a length of 14 feet.
Greatest length, 65 feet.
Rostrum of skull long, narrow and remarkably arched. Vertebral formula:
cervicals 7, dorsals 12, lumbars 14, caudals 22. Total, 55. Habitat:
Arctic waters only; not found in Antarctic.
CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE, DEVILFISH
_Rhachianectes glaucus_ (Cope)
Form robust. Upper jaw moderately arched. Two to four furrows on throat.
No dorsal fin. The color is black, or very dark slate, thickly marked
about the snout, lips, chin and jaws with white flecks and small spots.
On the sides, breast and belly are many roughly elliptical, irregular
grayish markings and white circular spots which are apparently the scars
left by barnacles. The amount of white varies greatly with individuals,
but is seldom entirely absent. The pectoral fins and flukes are black on
both surfaces, with scattered white spots and circles. Average size, 40
feet; maximum size, 49 feet.
Skull with a broad strip of frontal exposed upon the vertex. Nasals very
long and broad. Cervical vertebræ all free. Anterior ribs with
tubercles, necks and heads. Vertebral formula: cervicals 7, dorsals 14,
lumbars 12, caudals 23. Total, 56. Habitat: North Pacific Ocean only.
SPERM WHALE, CACHALOT
_Physeter macrocephalus_ (Linn.)
Size large and form massive. Head blunt. A single S-shaped blowhole at
the end of the snout. Forty to 50 teeth in lower jaw. No functional
teeth in upper jaw. A prominent “hump” on the back.
The color is slate gray, with some white about the lower jaw and snout,
which is crossed in every direction by long white lines (scars). White
or gray patches are usually found about the umbilicus. Greatest length,
70 feet.
The bones of the skull are elevated to form a high crest above and
behind the nares. The rostrum is very massive and wide, but gradually
tapers to the apex, and is concave. Lower jaw very long and narrow.
Atlas free, but all the other cervical vertebræ united into a solid
mass. Vertebral formula: cervicals 7, dorsals 11, lumbars 8, caudals 24.
Total, 50. Habitat: cosmopolitan, in warm currents.
KILLER WHALE, ORCA, GRAMPUS, THRESHER
_Orca orca_ (Linn.)
Form robust. Head pointed. Heavy pointed conical teeth in both jaws. An
extremely high dorsal fin. The color is black, with an elliptical white
spot on each side of head. The throat and breast are white and there is
a trident-shaped area of white on the belly and flanks. A white or
grayish patch is usually present just behind the dorsal fin. The flukes
above are black, and below white except for a black band on the
posterior margins and tips. Greatest length, 30 feet.
Rostrum about equal in length to the cranial part of the skull, broad
and flattened above, rounded in front. Teeth usually twelve in each jaw.
Vertebral formula: cervicals 7, dorsals 11–12, lumbars 10, caudals 53.
Total, 51–52. Habitat: cosmopolitan.
WHITE WHALE, BELUGA, MARSOUIN BLANC
_Delphinapterus leucas_ (Pallas)
Form robust. Head very small and marked off from body by an ill-defined
neck. No dorsal fin. Pectoral fins very broad and upturned. The color is
pure white in the adult, except for a very narrow band of brownish on
the edges of the flukes and flippers. The young are entirely brownish.
Skull rather narrow and elongated. Eight to ten teeth in both
jaws—cervical vertebræ all free. Vertebral formula: cervicals 7, dorsals
11, lumbars 9, caudals 23. Total, 50. Habitat: North Atlantic and North
Pacific.
BLACKFISH, PILOT WHALE, CA’ING OR GRINDHVAL
_Globicephalus melas_ (Traill)
Form robust. Head large and very round. Dorsal fin thick and triangular.
Pectoral fins very long and narrow.
The color is black throughout, except for a narrow fountain-shaped area
of white on the throat, breast and belly. Greatest length, 30 feet.
Skull broad and depressed. Premaxillæ strongly concave in front of
nares. Vertebral formula: cervicals 7, dorsals 11, lumbars 12–14,
caudals 28–29. Total, 58 or 59. Habitat: North Atlantic Ocean.
BOTTLENOSE PORPOISE
_Tursiops truncatus_ (Mont.)
Head produced in the form of a beak. Strong teeth in both jaws. A
well-developed dorsal fin.
The color is dark gray on the head, back and sides, and the throat,
breast and belly are white. Average length, 8 feet; greatest length, 12
feet.
Rostrum tapering. Palate not grooved. Symphysis of mandible short. Forty
to 50 teeth. Vertebral formula: cervicals 7, dorsals 13, lumbars 17,
caudals 27. Total, 64. Habitat: North Atlantic Ocean.
III. THE SKELETON OF THE CETACEA
The skeletons of whales and porpoises are so frequently preserved in
museums that, for the benefit of those who wish to understand more fully
the Cetacea, a brief general description of the osteology is given
below. Unfortunately, however, it is impossible to present the subject
except in semi-technical language.
The bones of the Cetacea are comparatively light and fragile, the hard,
shell-like exterior being thin and the interior filled with spongy
“cancellous tissue” which is considerably impregnated with oil. In
structure they are exactly opposite to those of the Sirenia (the aquatic
mammalian order including the sea cows, or manatees, and the dugongs),
which have very heavy solid bones of almost flinty hardness. Cetacean
bones are easily affected by weather, and if exposed to the sun, rain
and wind for a comparatively short time the hard exterior becomes white
and chalk-like.
The whale’s skeleton is highly modified in adaptation to an aquatic
existence and is very distinctive of the cetacean order. In a general
view it is seen to be greatly elongated, the skull is pointed, the
fore-limbs are short and flat and the hind-limbs are represented by
nodules of bone; all these accompany a fish-like body which offers
little resistance to its passage through the water.
The skull is perhaps more greatly modified than any other portion of the
skeleton, and if a trained anatomist who had not studied the Cetacea
were to examine a whale’s skull, he would probably be at a loss to
identify correctly its parts. The brain case is small and rounded, the
eyes are situated far back and the facial portion greatly elongated. The
back of the brain case is formed by an extraordinarily developed
supra-occipital bone which extends forward and upward to meet the
frontal, entirely excluding the parietals from the summit of the skull.
The nostrils have rotated backward and upward and are almost vertical
instead of horizontal as in other mammals; thus the nasal bones are
greatly reduced in size.
The skull of a toothed whale in general appearance is quite unlike that
of a whalebone whale; the nasals are very small, and the maxillæ,
premaxillæ and frontals meet above the nostrils to form a bony ridge
which is sometimes developed into an extraordinary crest. In some cases
the crest overhangs the blowholes and is asymmetrical, the right side
being much more strongly developed than the left.
The facial portion, or rostrum, of the right whales is narrow and
greatly arched, but in the Balænopteras it is wide and flat; in the
toothed whales it may be either wide and concave, as in the Physeteridæ,
or narrow and beak-like as in the Ziphiidæ and Delphinidæ.
The neck, or cervical, vertebræ of all the Cetacea are exceedingly thin
and plate-like and usually either two or three of the entire series are
fused. In large-headed species, such as the right whales, the neck is
reduced to a minimum and the cervical vertebræ are all joined in a solid
mass to bear the weight of the enormous skull.
The remainder of the spinal column, as in all mammals, is divided into
dorsal, lumbar and caudal vertebræ. The first series bear ribs and the
last, which are those of the “tail region,” may be distinguished by the
V-shaped “chevron bones” attached to the lower side of each vertebral
body; because of the absence of functional hind-limbs no sacrum is
present.
The ribs of the whalebone whales differ from those of other mammals
because all but the first two or three have lost the capitulum, or head,
and articulate by only the tuberculum to the transverse processes of the
vertebræ.
In the baleen whales the sternum, or breast bone, is so reduced that it
only articulates with the first pair of ribs, the lower ends of those
remaining being free. Thus with the weak attachment of the ribs to the
vertebræ and no fastening to the sternum, a loose “thoracic box” is
formed, which is capable of great lateral movement as the enormous lungs
expand and contract.
In the toothed whales conditions are somewhat different. Many of the
ribs have the normal attachment by head and tubercle to the vertebræ and
are joined by their lower ends to the sternum, which consists of several
pieces; thus the thoracic box is much more rigid than in the baleen
whales.
The bones of the fore-limbs of ordinary mammals are present in the
cetacean flipper, but they become greatly flattened and overlaid with
adipose tissue to form a paddle. In the right whales the five fingers of
the mammalian hand are present, but in others one finger has been lost,
and the digits are greatly elongated. The scapula, or shoulder blade, is
a wide, flat, fan-shaped bone, and the clavicles, or collarbones, have
entirely disappeared. The hind-limbs are rudimentary, when present at
all, only being represented by bony nodules, and the pelvis is reduced
to two spindle-shaped bones quite unlike that of land mammals.
The skeleton of each group of the Cetacea, although similar in general
characters, varies enormously in the details of construction, and to
anyone interested in osteology will prove a fascinating subject for
investigation.
IV. ADAPTATION AS SHOWN BY THE CETACEA
There are many indisputable evidences that whales once lived upon the
land and walked upon four legs like ordinary quadrupeds, yet how
remarkably different from any land mammal is their present form!
We see that almost all aquatic creatures have torpedo-shaped bodies,
which offer the minimum of resistance to their passage through the
water. Thus as the whales gradually changed from a terrestrial to an
aquatic life their bodies assumed the elongated form essential for
successful existence in a liquid medium.
Accompanying this change of bodily shape was the elimination of all
unnecessary structures which offered resistance, and the whale’s smooth,
soft, hairless skin was one of the results. But the hair of a land
mammal acts as a non-conductor, preventing the heat of the blood from
being absorbed by the air, and as the whale’s body became naked it was
necessary to blanket it with some other protective covering; thus the
layer of fat or blubber developed between the skin and the flesh. Fish
and amphibians do not need a warm covering because their blood is cold
and changes with the temperature of the medium in which they live.
Besides giving warmth to a land mammal, hair acts as a protection for
its tender skin; but since a whale lives in the water, where bruises or
abrasions are unlikely, such protection is unnecessary. With the loss of
hair the sweat and oil glands which are present in the skins of land
mammals finally disappeared.
When any creature becomes aquatic it must necessarily develop means for
progression through the water, and thus the caudal portion of the
whale’s body by degrees expanded into the wide, flat, boneless tail, or
flukes. But instead of being vertical to the axis of the body like the
tail of a fish, the whale’s flukes are horizontal, obviously to give the
animal greater facility in rising to the surface to breathe.
With the development of the flukes there came a change in the whale’s
fore-limbs, which were flattened and covered with connective tissue and
blubber. The excellent paddles thus formed, while probably of little use
in forward motion, assist in rapid turning and act as balancing organs
to keep the animal upright in the water. In some species an adipose
dorsal fin has also developed as a further balancing aid.
During the development of the flippers and flukes the hind-limbs, which
were no longer of use to the whale, became small and weak, sunk into the
blubber and finally disappeared altogether, the greatly modified pelvic
elements and nodules of bone or cartilage representing the femur alone
remaining.
The heads of most cetaceans are long and pointed, acting as a
“cut-water,” but one of the most remarkable aquatic adaptations is the
position of the nostrils, or blowholes, which open upon the very summit
of the head, in either a single or double aperture, instead of at the
end of the snout. The cause of this migration of the nostrils is
obvious, for in this position the blowholes first appear at the surface
and the whale can begin to breathe while the rest of its body is yet
under water.
In all cetaceans the facial portion of the skull is greatly elongated,
and especially in the Mystacoceti the mouth is exceedingly large to
accommodate the baleen, which hangs in two parallel rows from the upper
jaw. Probably no mammalian adaptation for the securing of food is more
remarkable than the whale’s baleen. It is almost unbelievable that an
animal which once had teeth could, as its food changed, replace them by
a complicated straining apparatus such as the whalebone. The baleen is
an epidermal growth and is in reality merely an exaggeration of the
transverse ridges present in the mouths of land mammals.
We know that the Mystacoceti at one time had teeth, for in fœtal whales
two sets of minute teeth are present under the skin, corresponding to
the “milk” and “permanent” dentition of ordinary mammals, but these
disappear before the baleen begins to develop.
Another interesting feeding adaptation is present in the throat of the
whale. The nostrils, instead of opening into the back of the mouth, as
in land mammals, are directly connected with the lungs by a prolongation
of the “windpipe” called the epiglottis, which entirely shuts off the
whale’s breathing passage from the mouth. Thus the animal can swallow
its food beneath the surface without danger of strangulation through
getting water into its lungs.
When whales lived upon the land external ears were necessary, but as
they became completely aquatic such “sound collectors” were not only of
no more use but highly undesirable, because, like the useless
hind-limbs, they offered additional resistance to the water; therefore
the external ears were lost, but their muscles still remain about the
minute ear-orifices of the present-day Cetacea.
The internal modifications which the whales underwent as they assumed an
aquatic existence are fully as remarkable as the external changes. In
the section on osteology it has been explained how, in living cetaceans,
the entire skeleton is loosely articulated so that great flexibility and
freedom of movement is given to the body, how the neck is shortened and
the vertebræ have become thin and closely packed together to support the
large head, and how the breast bone is reduced and the ribs so loosely
articulated to the vertebral column that the huge lungs have full power
of expansion. All these are necessary modifications of the mammalian
skeleton which have been caused by the change from a terrestrial to an
aquatic existence.
The lungs of the Cetacea are unlobulated and of extraordinary size; the
diaphragm, the muscular partition which separates the thoracic from the
abdominal cavity, is oblique, and the brain greatly convoluted and of a
high type; the brain is especially notable for the loss of the
olfactory, or smelling portions, which are of no use to an aquatic
mammal.
Thus it is apparent in a review of only the most obvious changes what a
wonderful example of adaptation to environment is furnished by the
Cetacea.
INDEX
_Aate_ (_Calanus finmarchius_), 126
_Acinomyx jubatus._ _See_ Cheetah
Admiralty Island, Alaska, 4
Tyee Company erected station on, 185
Aikawa, 91, 130, 143, 152, 235, 263
_Airondo Maru_, 105, 130
_Akebono_, 105
Alaska, vii, 4, 5, 46, 59, 63, 64, 143, 148, 158, 175, 180, 230, 252
Alaska Whaling Company, 5
_Albatross, U. S. S._, 77, 78
Aleutian Islands, 5, 230
Allen, Doctor Glover M., 45
Allen, Doctor J. A., vii
Amagansett, 253, 255
Ambergris, 225, 226, 227
America, Pacific Coast of, 185, 186
_American Museum Journal_, viii
American Museum of Natural History, vii
skeletons of all the large Japanese cetaceans in, viii
trustees of, viii, 230, 235, 255, 266
American West Coast whaling industry, vii
American whaling ships, 189
Americans, 23
Andersen, Captain Y. E., vii, 61, 92, 95, 100, 101, 102, 104, 105, 107,
108, 110, 111, 113, 114, 115, 117, 120, 121
Andrews, Yvette Borup, vii
Antarctic circle, 304
Antarctic Ocean, 124, 184
Antwerp, 265
_Aosaki_ (red blubber whale), 214
Apple Island, 269
Arctic Ocean, 186, 249, 263
Arctic Region, 184
Argentina, 9, 304
Arytenoid cartilages, 43
Atlantic finwhalers, 176
Atlantic Ocean, 183, 184, 304
Australia, 6, 169, 248, 265
Baffin Bay, 296
_Balænopterinæ_, 183
Balcom, Captain, 24, 25, 30
Baleen, 37, 69
objects made of, 90, 158
value of, 247, 248, 253
Baleen whales, food of, 67
Banks Land, 249
Barclay Sound, 4, 22, 24
Barnacles, 65, 66, 211, 248
Barneson, Captain John, viii, 4
Barrel view from the crow’s nest, 26
Basques, 245
Bay City, Washington, 5
Bay of Biscay, 245, 296
Bay of Islands, 6
Beluga or white whale, 54
_Berardius bairdi_, 266
Bering Sea, 204, 220, 249, 301
Bering Strait, 249
Bernheimer, Mr. and Mrs. Charles L., vii
Birds, 107, 109, 110
Black codfish (_Polachius virens_), 123
Blackfish, sometimes called pilot whale, 291
_Blahval_, Norwegian name for blue whale, 178
Blanket piece, 82
Blow, 47
Blowholes, 43
adaptation to aquatic life, 44, 153
elevation of, 45
position of, 44, 153
Blowing, 43
Blubber, 35, 74, 149, 151, 152, 153, 208, 213, 214, 240, 261, 277, 302
Blue whale, 14, 19, 24, 39, 41, 57, 70, 150, 155, 178, 179, 180, 183,
185, 302, 305
capture and delivery to station, 139, 140, 142, 143
Millais’ interesting account of hunt of, 144–147
photographing of and shooting at, 132
Blue whale, skeleton of, 75, 80, 91, 122, 127, 130
vigorous attempt to capture, 133
Boiling vats, 11
Bomb, 12
Bomb harpoon, 3
Bonnaterre, Abbé, 245
Borneo, vii
Bottlenose (_Hyperoödon rostratum_), 57, 72, 154
habits and characteristics of, 262
method of hunting, 258–261
origin of name, 258
where found, 263, 264
Bottlenose porpoise (_Tursiops truncatus_), 278, 282
Bowdoin, George S., vii
Bowhead, 2, 221, 245, 247, 251, 296
food of, 248
grounds of, 249
Brazil, 9
Breach, 63
Breaching, 64
Breathing, 42
Breeding grounds, 202, 203
Breeding habits of all large whales, 72
Brett, Captain, 6
Bryde, John, 5
Bull, Captain, 300
Bumpus, Doctor Herman C., vii
Bunk-houses, 11
_Cabot_, 146
_Calanus finmarchius, Aate_, 126
Calf, 69
Calf, enormous size at birth, 143
California, 202, 203
coast of, 204
California gray whale, 72, 125, 178, 189, 190, 192, 195, 196, 197, 200,
201
length when born, 73
California lagoons, 186, 189
Camera, vii, 27, 30, 96, 97, 104, 113, 130
important part of, in natural history, 55
Canadian North Pacific Fisheries, Ltd., 5
Canting winch, 35
Cape Beale, 25
Cape Good Hope, 183
Cape Hatteras, 239, 278, 280, 282, 290
Cape Horn, 183
Cape Ommaney, 5
Cape St. Mary, 146
Carcass platforms, 11, 36
Castberg, Captain, 176
Cetacea, 124
Cetaceans, 127, 149, 267
color changes when dead, 17
hair on, 212, 213, 214
individual variation of, 17, 20
physiology of, 59
Cheetah (_Acinomyx jubatus_), 127
Chili, 9
Chinese, 23
Christiania Bay, 1
Cinematograph, 100
Clark, James L., 255
Communicate, how whales, 60
Cook Brothers, 6, 89
Cope, Professor, 189
Copepod (_Penella antarctica_), 124
_Coronula_, 248
_Coronula diadema_, 212
Coryphæna, 267
Crew, 14
Crow’s nest, whales sighted from, 14
_Cryptolepas rhachianectei_ (shell-like barnacles), 212
Cutters, 82
Cutting in, 20, 33, 34
Japanese method of, 79
Cutting operations, 37
Cuttlefish, 226, 230
_Cyamus_, 248
_Cyamus scammoni_ (whale lice), 212
_Daito No. 2_, whaleship, 130
Davis Strait, 245, 263, 296
_Delphinidæ_, 267
_Delphinapterus leucas._ _See_ White porpoise
Devilfish, 178, 189, 195, 204
affection of, 208
Dinosaurs, 140
Dolphin, 151, 219, 223, 267
Dorsal fin, 153
Double-finned whale, 61, 62
Dryer, 11
Durban, 5
Dutch East Indies, vii, 77
East Indies, Dutch, vii
_Eclipse_, Captain David Gray’s schooner, 258
Edwards, Captain Josh, 255
Engine house, 11
England, 9, 265
Epiglottis, 44
Eskimos, 251, 252, 253
_Eubalæna glacialis._ _See_ Right whale
_Euphausia inermis_, 67, 126, 301
Fagan, D. W. O., quoted, 8
Falkland Islands, 9, 123, 230, 304
Fanshaw, Cape, 47
Faroe Islands, 9, 263, 291
Feed, 47
Feeding, 50
Feeding operations, 68
Fertilizer, 36, 37, 88
Finback, 19, 24, 39, 46, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 62, 70, 91, 122, 127, 129,
143, 158, 160, 164, 166, 169, 172, 173, 175, 176, 178, 179, 180,
183, 185, 223, 305, 306
Millais’ description of killing, 181, 182
Finland, 296
Finmark, 3, 122, 263
accident off coast of, 72
Finners, 2
Fins, 148, 149
Fin whale, 2, 3, 143, 153, 223, 297, 304
mating and pairing of, 73
small fish eaten by, 69
value of baleen of, 37
Flensing knives, 81
Flensing slip, 11, 36
Flippers, 35, 149
Floating factories, 9
development of, 301, 302
Flukes, 148
Food, 11
Formosa, 77
Foyn, Svend, inventor of harpoon-gun, 1, 2, 16
best years of (1871–1880), 3
Frederick Sound, 4, 46, 59
French Antarctic Expedition, 124
_Fukushima_, 105
Fur seal, 204, 208
Fusan, 191
Galapagos Islands, 9
_Globicephalus brachypterus_, 295
_Globicephalus melas_, 291
_Globicephalus scammoni_, 295
Glue, 37
_Gracia_, whaling ship sunk by a finner, 176
Grahame, Captain Charles, 46, 58, 59, 158, 168, 169, 173
_Grampus_, 220
_Grampus griseus_, 221
Gray, Captain David, 258, 259, 262
Gray whale, 198, 199
diseases of, 210, 212, 214, 305
food of, 207
migration of, 202
period of gestation of, 204
Great Britain, 304
Great Dismal Swamp Canal, 283
Greenland, 9, 240, 263, 296
Greenland right whale, 245, 247
_Grind_, 291, 292, 294
Guano, 37
Guldberg, Dr. G. A., 262
Gunner, 14, 16
Hakata, 190
Hansen, Captain, 109
Harpoon, 12, 14
Harpoon-gun, 2, 11, 16, 26
charge of, 12
weight of, 12
Hebrides, 9
Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland, 69, 146
Herschel Island, 253
Hibberd, Captain I. N., viii, 4
_Hogei Maru No. 5_, 92
Hudson Bay, 249
Humpback, 19, 24, 27, 33, 38, 39, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57,
60, 63
amorous antics in mating season, 66
baby, 73
caught in wire nets, 6
danger from lancing, 70
dive of, 29
great affection of, 69, 71, 72
habits of, 59
period of gestation, 73, 87, 130, 148, 149, 152, 158, 167, 168, 185,
232, 305
photograph of, breaching, 64
playful disposition of, 66
Hurum, Captain, 60, 197, 199
Huxley, Leonard, 218
_Hyperoödon rostratum._ _See_ Bottlenose
Iceland, 3, 263, 296
Ikeda, Mr., 79
Indians, 23
Indians, Siwash, 186
Individual variation, 17, 20
Inland Sea, 79
Isafjord, 72
Island Empire, cutting operations at, 37
Italian hemp, tested for a breaking point of eighteen tons, 14
_Iwashi kujira._ _See_ Sardine whale
Jacobsen, Captain Reidar, 130
Japan, 5, 14, 37, 57, 61, 64, 79, 123, 152, 189, 220, 230, 235, 249,
253, 263, 266, 302
use of whales for food in, 304, 305
whaling banks of, 77
Japan Sea, 190
Japanese Empire, 5, 35, 178, 214
coast of, 5, 57, 58
stations in, 79
Jarfjord, 3, 176
Johanessen, Hans, mate of the _Puma_, 144
Johnson, Captain, 197, 200
Kamaishi, 130
Kay Verde Islands, 239
Kerguelen Islands, 9, 142, 304
Killer whale, 197, 218, 220, 221, 222, 223, 261, 263, 267, 289, 295
food of, 219
strength and ferocity of, witnessed by Captain Scott, 215
Kinka-San, 104, 121
Kirkeö, site of first factory for converting whale flesh into guano, 3
_Kirkwood_, ship, 156
Kishimoto, 79
_Koku kujira_ or devilfish, 108, 189, 190, 196
Korea, 57, 178, 189, 190, 191, 202, 206, 208, 210, 220, 221
coast of, 204
Koreans, 193, 194, 195
dress of, 192
_Kronprinz Wilhelm_, 39
Kyuquot, 4, 24, 153
Labrador, 144, 263, 301
coast of, 143
_Lagenorhynchus obliquidens._ _See_ Porpoise
Larsen, Captain, 19, 130
Leopard, African hunting, 127
Line, harpoon, 14
Liouville, Doctor, 124
Lobtail, 38
Lobtailing, 65
Lucas, Doctor Frederic A., vii, 75, 142
extract from “_The Passing of the Whale_,” by, 298–300
weighing and measuring of blue whale by, 140
Layard’s whale (_Mesoplodon layardi_), 264
Machine for drying the flesh, 11
Magdalena Bay, 209
_Main_, Captain Melsom’s ship, 195, 201
“_Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland, The_,” by J. G. Millais,
extracts from, 70, 146, 176, 182
Manager’s house, 11
Manatee. _See_ Sea cow
“_Marine Mammalia, The_,” by Scammon, 196
_Marsouin blanc_, 269
Mast, 14
Matsumoto, Mr., 195
Maury, Lieut., 184, 256
McGrath, R. T., 298
McMurdo Strait, 220
Megapteras, 66
Melsom, Captain H. G., vii, 60, 70, 146, 195, 199, 201, 208, 263
blue whale killed by, at Ulsan, Korea, 57
_Mesoplodon densirostris_, specimen of, found on New Jersey coast, 265
_Mesoplodon grayi_, 264
_Mesoplodon layardi_ (Layard’s whale), 264
_Metropolitan_, viii
Mexico, Norwegian firm built station on Pacific coast of, 5, 301
Milk, taste and appearance of, 73, 74, 75
Milk glands, 74
Millais, J. G., quoted, 69, 70, 71, 72, 144, 145, 146, 176, 180, 181,
182
_Minerva_, whaling steamer, 72
Montana, 140
Motion-picture film, 100, 101
Müller, Mr., 264
Murderer’s Cove, 4, 46
_Mystacoceti._ _See_ Whalebone whales
Nagasaki, 77
Nannaimo, Vancouver Island, Pacific Whaling Company erected a station
at, 185
Narwhal, 269, 276
_National Geographic Magazine_, viii
Naturalist, 16, 19, 20, 54
_Ne Taihei_, 104
Nets, for catching whales, 6
New Bedford, Mass., 1, 2, 16, 239, 278
New Bedford whalers, 238
New England states, 1
Newfoundland, 4, 5, 23, 24, 45, 75, 140, 144, 146, 178, 196, 297, 301
Newfoundland fishery, 298
New York, 91, 295
New York Aquarium, 218, 278
New York Zoölogical Society, 278, 280
New Zealand, 6, 89, 140, 265
Nilsen, Captain, 69, 146
North Atlantic Ocean, 123, 124, 263, 291, 295
North Atlantic right whale, 245, 296
North Cape, 3, 176
Norway, 1, 3, 5, 9, 24, 126, 147, 258, 304
Norwegian captains, authentic instances related by, 72
Norwegian fishermen, relation to whaling, 3
Norwegian gunner, 14
Norwegian whalers, 4
Norwegians, 5, 16, 23, 24, 75, 122, 143, 181, 210, 258
Nostrils, 44, 55
Nova Zembla, 263
Nursing of whales, 74
Nye, Joseph K., owner of porpoise fishery at New Bedford, Mass., 278
_Odontoceti_, 67
Offices, 11
Ogiwara, D., viii
Ohlin, Axel, 259
Okhotsk Sea, 203, 249
Olsen, Captain Fred, vii, 105, 129, 130, 132, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138,
230, 238, 263
_Orca gladiator_, 289
Orca or killer whale, enemy of other whales, 197, 199, 200, 201, 219,
220, 221, 223, 261
Oriental Whaling Company, Ltd., 78
_Orion_, 24, 25, 30, 33, 38
Osaka, viii, 5, 121
Osborn, Henry Fairfield, viii
Oshima, 80, 91, 152
_Outing_, viii
Pacific coast of America, 4, 64
of Mexico, 5
Pacific Ocean, 124, 142, 183, 184, 202, 263, 264, 295, 301, 304
Pacific Steam Whaling Company, 252
Pacific Whaling Company, Victoria, B. C, vii, 4, 5, 22, 185
Pamlico Sound, 283, 290
Pan, 14, 27
Parasite, 66
discovery of, 124
“Passing of the Whale,” extract from Zoölogical Society Bulletin,
298–300
_Penella antarctica_, parasite, description of scar made by, 124
Petersen, Captain John, 72
Photographic negatives, developing of, 54
Placentia, 145
_Plymouth_, ship, 155
Pod, 17
Point Barrow, Alaska, 249, 252, 253
_Polachius virens._ _See_ Black codfish
Porpoise fishery, 278
“Porpoise in Captivity, The,” by Charles H. Townsend, 280
Porpoise oil, 269
Porpoise, white, 56, 77
Porpoises, 151, 267
hide of, 154
school of, 58, 137
Pram, 69, 71, 72
Pregnant whales, 74
Pribilof Islands, 208
_Puma_, whale steamer, 144, 145
Quinton, J. H., vii, 23
Red shrimp, 67, 126
_Rekkusu Maru_, 105, 129, 130
Revenue from shore whaling, 2
_Rex Maru_, 200
Right whale, 2, 143, 145, 184, 253
food of, 248
origin of name, 245
skeleton and baleen of, in American Museum, 255
Rocovitza, 59
Rolls, Mr., 23
Rope, five-inch, 12, 14, 27
Rope-pan, 26
Ruck, Sidney C., vii
Russian industry, 5
Russian-Japanese War, 5
St. Lawrence River, 56, 77, 269
_St. Lawrence_, whaler, 19, 69, 130
Saldanha Bay, 6
San Francisco, 249
_San Hogei_, 105, 109
Sandefjord, 5
Sardine whale (_Iwashi kujira_), 91, 94, 123
Sardines, 110
Scammon, Charles M., quoted, 66, 154, 196, 203, 204–206, 208, 209, 212,
221
Scandinavians, 16
School, 17
Scientist, 18
Scotland, 9
Scott, Captain Robert F., quoted, 215, 217, 218
Sea cow or manatee, 213
Sea leopard, 220
Seals, 213
Seattle, 249
Sechart, 4, 22, 24, 33, 73, 74
cutting operations at, 37
Sei whale, 91, 104, 105, 120, 125, 127, 185, 305
food of, 126
habits of, 123
migrations of, 124
origin of name, 122
parasite on body of, 124
speed of, 97
_Seje_, 122
Sharps, 117, 118, 119, 121
Shetlands, 9, 146
Sherwood, George H., vii
Shimonoseki, viii, 78, 91
_Shiro-nagasu_, 130, 178
_Shiro-nagasu kujira_, 80
_Shirosaki_ (white blubber whale), 214
Shore stations, 9, 20
Shore whaling, 19
development of, 1
operations of Japanese and Russians in, 5
plea for proper legislation of, 305, 306
revenue from, 2
Shrimps, 68, 69, 301
Siberia, coast of, 5, 146
Siwash Indians, 186
Sleep, where whales, 60
Slicing machine, 35
Slip, 20
Slocum, Victor, quoted, 240–244
Smithsonian Institution, 219
Soft palate, 44
Sorenson, the gunner, 50, 52, 53, 63, 161, 164, 168, 171, 172
_Sorenson_, wooden whale ship, sunk by a finback, 175
Sound produced by blowing, 55
Sounded, 63
Sounding, 39
South Africa, 5, 123
South America, 9, 249
South Atlantic grounds, 9
South Atlantic Ocean, 11, 124, 142, 302, 304
South Georgia Islands, 9, 142
as whaling center, 302, 304
South Orkneys, 9, 304
South Sea Islands, 90
South Shetland Islands, 123, 304
Spain, 296
_Spes et Fides_, ship, 3
Sperm whale, 2, 67, 77, 91, 94, 95, 143, 177, 184, 223, 224, 225, 227,
228, 229, 230, 232, 238, 239, 261, 263, 265
killed in Japan for the American Museum, 235
Spermaceti, 225, 261
Spitzbergen, 9, 263, 296
Spout, 45, 55, 56
height and density of the, 44
Spouting, 43, 50, 55
number of times of, by humpback, 56
Squid, 226, 230
Steam whalers, effect of development of, in capture of finners, 2
Steller’s sea lions, 219
Stillman, Doctor J. D. B., quoted, 155, 156, 157
Stokken, Captain, 181
Storm Island, 48
Störthing, prohibited shore whaling in 1903, 4
Straits of Juan de Fuca, 25
Street, V. H., vii
Sub-Antarctic Islands, 9
Sulphurbottom or blue whale, 155, 157, 178
Swedish iron, 12
Swordfish, 222, 223
Tadoussac, 269, 277
_Takamatsu_, Japanese name for killer, 220
Tasmania, 6
Teats, 73, 74
_Tees_, 22
Thresher, 220, 222
Tokyo, 91
Tokyo Bay, 266
Tongue, 68
Tønsberg, 1, 2, 16
Toothed whales (_Odontoceti_), 67
Towing line, 27
Townsend, Charles H., 218, 279
experience of, on Pribilof Islands, 218, 219
quoted, 280–290
Toyo Hogei Kabushiki Kaisha, president and directors of, viii, 5, 78,
90, 190
Trachea or windpipe, 44
Trying out vats, 35
_Tursiops truncatus._ _See_ Bottlenose porpoise
Twins, 74
Tyee, Alaska, 46
_Tyee_, Captain Charles Grahame’s ship, 46, 158
Tyee Company of Alaska, 4, 5, 175, 185
Ulsan, Korea, 57, 60, 190, 192, 195, 197, 200, 202, 207, 208, 210
Unimak Pass, 5
United States National Museum, 75
United States Whaling Company, 5
Vadso, 176
Vancouver, factories of Canadian North Pacific Fisheries, Ltd., at, 5
Vancouver Island, 4, 19, 22, 46, 130, 185, 220
Varangerfjord, 3, 176
Vardö, 3
Victoria, B. C., 4
Vocal organs, 55
Voice, 55
Wads, 12
Wainscott, L. I., 256
Walrus, 213, 221
Wangamumu, 6
Weddell seal, 220
Whale lice, 211, 212, 248
Whale oil, 151
Whalebone, 2, 37
growth, composition, shape, bristles, use, development of, 67, 143,
248
Whalebone plates, bristles on inner side of, 69
Whalebone whales (_Mystacoceti_), 67
Whales, breeding habits of, 72
carcass used for human consumption, 5
depth of diving, 41
description of cutting, 240
double-finned, 61, 62
early extinction of, 21
food of, 67
inflating, 32, 33
influence of, upon fishing, 4
investigations, distribution, life history, relationship of, 20
manner of swimming, 148
meat of, 77
canning of, 89
chemical analysis of, 88
for eating purposes, 86
price of, 87
taste of, 88
methods of studying, 19
milking, 75
movements of, 67
nets for catching, 6
number taken during a season, 19
Whales, scientific study of, 17
spouting of, 43
time below the surface, 56
with two dorsal fins, 61
young of, number of, at a birth, 74
nursing of, 74
Whales, Asiatic, viii
Whaling, beginning of, 245
great part persistency plays in, 136
new era of, 16
Whaling companies, assistance of, to scientists, 20
Whaling grounds, greatest of modern times, 9
Whaling ships, 11
Whaling stations, 11
Wharf, 11
White porpoise (_Delphinapterus leucas_), 56, 269
White whale or beluga, 154
Wilson, Doctor, quoted, 220
Winch, 14, 32, 34, 134
Windpipe or trachea, 44
_World’s Work_, viii
Wrangle Island, 249
Wyoming, 140
Ziphiidæ, 264
Ziphioids, 258, 265
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in
spelling.
2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
3. Re-indexed footnotes using numbers.
4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.