WHALES LANDED AT SCOTTISH WHALING STATIONS 20 1 



We see from this (1) that the two sexes were approxi- 

 mately equal in number ; (2) that the captures were limited 

 to a short season, those in May and August being few and 

 exceptional ; l about 66 per cent, (forty-four out of sixty-seven) 

 were taken in June, and about 28 per cent, in July, or 94 per 

 cent, for the two months ; (3) that the distribution of the 

 catch of Nordcapers over the several years was very unequal, 

 none being got in 191 1, and only one in 1913 ; while forty- 

 four, or two-thirds of the entire seven-years' catch, were 

 taken in 1908 and 1909. 



We may add a few other facts to these. From Mr 

 Haldane's papers in the Annals we know that six Nordcapers 

 (four m., two f.) were captured at Bunaveneader in 1906, 

 and twenty-four in 1907. There were therefore at least 

 three successive years, 1907-09, in which these whales 

 were comparatively or exceptionally abundant. In like 

 manner we find, for the Irish stations, that five were captured 

 at Innishkea in 1908 (Haldane), five again in 1909, all in the 

 first fortnight of June (Lillie), and four at Innishkea and 

 four at Blacksod in 1910 (Scharff) ; but apparently none at 

 all were got in 191 1 (Burfield). These Irish records, then, 

 tally on the whole with our own in regard to the years of 

 scarcity and of abundance. 



The marked inequality of the catch in different years 

 is a matter of very considerable interest, and would be much 

 more so had we more information available as to the varying 

 hydrographical conditions of the North Atlantic in the 

 several years. But in the first place we have no precise 

 hydrographic information at all with regard to the particular 

 area where our Nordcapers were taken, and in the second 

 place we have all too little even from the Faeroe Channel 

 and other neighbouring regions which have been kept, more 

 or less, under observation. However, we know this, at least, 

 from our Goldseeker investigations, that the year 191 1 



1 The whaling season begins in the latter part of April, and lasts till 

 September as a rule, sometimes continuing into the first half of October. 

 The still more limited season during which the Nordcapers occur will 

 be better understood when we shall have studied the seasonal distribution 

 of the other species. 



