io ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



WHALING IN SCOTLAND. 



By R. C. HALDANE, F.S.A. (Scot.). 

 PLATE I. 



THE season of 1906 has been a productive one and presents 

 features of great interest. The results have been 



B. B. B. B. 



musculus. sibbaldii. borealis. Megaptera. Sperm, biscayensis. 



Norrona Co. 40 ... 37 



Shetland Co. 31 ... 16 ... 



Alexandra Co. 49 ... 72 



Olna Co. 178 i 137 3 



Buneveneader Co. 19 53 64 2 i 6 



3 1 ? 54 3 2 6 5 i 6 



and one Bottle-nose whale (Hyperoodon) brought in at Olna. 



The large number of B. borealis killed this year is very 

 remarkable, also the six Right Atlantic Whales, Balcena 

 biscayensis. 



BAL^ENOPTERA SIBBALDII (Blue Whale). 



The particulars of these whales are given below : 



No. of Bulls. Average Length. No. of Cows. Average Length. 

 ft. ins. ft. ins. 



Buneveneader . 35 700 18 7 2 7 



Olna. . . i 620 



Last year, 1905, Buneveneader had 



18 702 13 716 



This year there were bulls of 82, 80, 79, 76, and 73 feet, and cows of 

 83, 82, 78, 78, 76, 76, and 74 feet long. The Shetland whales of this 

 species never seem to be large. Hjort gives the length of these 

 whales as " up to 85 feet." The migration of these whales seems 

 to be about longitude 10 W., passing between Iceland and Faroe 

 and then spreading East and West. They are fairly abundant west 

 of St. Kilda, but rare in Shetland waters. On igth July one of 

 these Blue Whales had a foetus 22 feet long, "but the latter was not 

 full grown yet." On ist August another was got 18 feet long not 

 developed enough for birth. These two cases show how large the 

 young Blue Whales are at birth. 



