202 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



(when no Nordcaper were caught) was remarkable for a 

 very strong influx of warm Atlantic waters in the Faeroe 

 Channel region, and that 1908 (when the Nordcaper was 

 abundant) was equally remarkable for a very scanty 

 distribution of the warmer waters. Now Van Beneden has 

 called the Nordcaper a " Gulf Stream whale," and, broadly 

 speaking, we may take it that this description is true. And 

 yet, when the so-called Gulf Stream waters are abundant 

 with us the whale has been found to be scarce, and when 

 they are scarce it has been found plentiful. We need not 

 pretend to know the full meaning of the story ; but it is 

 at least possible, indeed it seems likely enough, that when 

 the Gulf Stream is warm and strong the whales tend 

 either to keep farther out to sea or (so to speak) hasten 

 past our doors towards the North Cape ; while on the other 

 hand they tend to linger on our coasts when there is 

 but little Gulf Stream current to tempt them onward in 

 their more northerly migration. 



The lengths, in feet, of our sixty-seven Nordcapers were 

 as follows : 



The arithmetical mean was 46-0 feet for males and 47-5 feet 

 for females. The median length was about 46^ feet for 

 males and about 49 feet for females. One-half of all 

 the males lay between 42 feet and 50 feet ; one-half of all the 

 females between 43 feet and 51 feet. The largest and the 

 smallest specimens were females ; and the females were on 

 the whole a little longer than the males, but not much. 



How far these measurements are to be relied on, we 

 cannot say. It is probable that they were made, or mostly 

 made, along the curve of the whale's body as it lay on 

 the wharf, and we may take it that this would probably add 



