Mr. W. Thompson on the Bottle-nosed Whale. 379 



respecting this whale, it was stated that " the blubber pro- 

 duced 140 gallons of oil, which were computed to be worth 

 above 20/. sterling.^^ 



In connexion with the occurrence of this Hyperoodon on 

 the coast of Down, a novel and highly interesting fact is to 

 be recorded — that there evidently was a migration or simulta- 

 neous movement of these Cetacece towards the British shores 

 during the last autumn, several individuals having within a 

 very weeks been obtained in England and Scotland, as well as 

 Ireland ; but all upon a hmited range of coast bounding the 

 Irish sea and its vicinity. The first capture known to me is 

 that of the individual already recorded. In the ' Northern 

 Whig' published at Belfast on the 26th Sept. it was stated, 

 that — " A bottle-nosed whale, 20 feet long, was last week left 

 on the beach at Flimby near Cocker mouth .^^ In the ^ Bel- 

 fast News-letter' of Oct. 1, appeared the following notice — 

 " A whale captured near Liverpool. — On Tuesday last, a whale 

 was left by the receding tide on East Hoyle bank and speedily 

 captured by the fishermen. Its length is 24 feet ; its girth 

 round the centre of the body 13 feet*." Although this is not 

 called the bottle-nosed species, it seems to me a fair presump- 

 tion so to consider the specimen, as its dimensions accord with 

 those of the other individuals taken about the same time, and 

 of which one was obtained on the coast of the adjacent county 

 of Cumberland. In the ^ Belfast Commercial Chronicle' of 

 Oct. 21, was this paragraph, copied from the Stranraer Ad- 

 vertiser : — 



^^ Capture of Whales in Lochryan. — On Tuesday morning 

 last, 15th of October t, a very unusual appearance presented 

 itself in Kirkcolm. Two monsters of the deep, of the bottle- 



* In connexion with this paragraph it was observed — " On Friday two 

 young whales were got in the Clyde, the one on the beach at Roseneath, 

 the other above Dumbarton or West Ferry." Unfortunately no particulars 

 are given that would lead to a knowledge of the species. About the same 

 time it was mentioned in the newspapers, that a whale proceeding south- 

 wards had passed close to one of the packets plying between Holyhead and 

 Dublin. 



t About four weeks previous to this time, a friend informed me that upon 

 two successive days a whale (which he saw) appeared off Ballantrae (Ayr- 

 shire), some miles north of Lochryan ; on the second day it was about two 

 miles to the south of where it was seen on the preceding, and was still ad- 

 vancing southwards. 



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