4 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



THE OCCURRENCE OF THE SPERM WHALE 

 OR CACHALOT IN THE SHETLAND SEAS. 



By SIR WILLIAM TURNER, K.C.B., F.R.S. 1 

 PLATE I. 



IN August 1901 Mr. Thomas Anderson, merchant, Hillswick, 

 to whom and to other members of whose family I 

 have on several occasions been indebted for specimens 

 to illustrate the Zoology of Shetland, wrote to tell me that 

 a dead whale had been found floating near Hillswick and 

 had been towed into Roeness Voe. It was within three 

 miles of land when seen by the fishermen and was claimed 

 by the Crown. From the appearance of the animal Mr. 

 Anderson thought that it was a sperm whale, and he sent 

 me the following description, from which it was clear that 

 he had correctly recognised it. 



The head was very large and blunt at its free end ; 

 the blow-hole was near the end of the head ; the eye was 

 low down, near the angle of the mouth ; there was no 

 dorsal fin, but only a hump where the fin is usually 

 situated ; the lower jaw contained large teeth. The 

 animal was a male and was 6 1 feet long. 



Mr. Anderson further stated that the salvers had 

 bought the whale, and that if I wished the skeleton, or 

 any part thereof, he thought that he could procure it for 

 me. I gladly availed myself of his kind offer, but owing 

 to the size of the animal, the weight of the head, the 

 difficulty of taking a steamer into the Voe where the 

 whale was lying, and the storms of the winter, it was not 

 possible to secure more than the lower jaw, the teeth, 

 and the tympano-petrous bones. In flensing the carcase 

 the point of a massive explosive harpoon was found 

 imbedded in the head of the whale, and had probably 

 been the cause of death. The harpoon had penetrated 



1 A communication made to the Royal Society of Edinburgh on iSth May 

 1903, and reproduced, with the permission of the author, from the Proceedings 

 of that Society, with additional notes. We desire to acknowledge the courtesy 

 of the Council of the Royal Society in granting us the use of the blocks from 

 which the plate has been produced. EDS. 



