28 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



A SPERM WHALE IN THE MORAY FIRTH. 



By William Taylor. 



ABOUT the iSth December 1913 a male Sperm Whale 

 (Physeter macrocephalus) was stranded about a mile east of 

 Fort George, and about three miles east of the spot where I 

 found Risso's Dolphin in December 1912. Both species are 

 rare on the east coast of Scotland. The Sperm Whale 

 differs so much from every other animal, that I recognised 

 the species a quarter of a mile away, though I had never 

 seen one before. The huge, projecting forehead and the 

 hanging under jaw were easily seen at a distance. 



No mention is made of this species in Harvie-Brown and 

 Buckley's Vertebrate Fauna of the Moray Basin, nor in 

 Sim's Vertebrate Fauna of Dee. During the past twenty 

 years that I have paid attention to the Cetacea here, I have 

 never seen nor heard of one. I know of one old record in 

 the Gentleman's Magazine (1753) saying: "three Sperm 

 Whales were stranded at Findhorn in February of that year 

 and sold for the benefit of those concerned." The present 

 whale, as far as I know, has not been sold, and nobody seems 

 "concerned," though I believe sperm oil and spermaceti are 

 still valuable products. 



When I arrived at the whale, the teeth had already been 

 cut out of the lower jaw, and the epidermis was being torn off 

 by the waves. It resembled thin, black leather-cloth. Quan- 

 tities of oil were oozing out where many cuts had been made. 

 The oil, slightly mixed with blood, congealed on the cold 

 surface of the water, and was scattered along the sands in 

 cakes, reminding me of mottled soap. The entire length of the 

 beast, in a straight line, was 48 ft. It was nearly 30 ft. in 

 circumference at the thickest part. Though the teeth had 

 all been cut out of the lower jaw, there were about fifteen 

 deep pits in the gum on each side of the upper jaw for their 

 reception. There were no functional teeth in the upper jaw. 

 The enormous forehead projected 3 \ ft. beyond the anterior 

 end of the mouth. 



