FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 333 



ever occupied the Aleutian Islands. Stejneger (1883, p. 84) 

 said Wosnessenski had obtained a rib of a sea cow from Attu 

 Island, and, in conversation, Stejneger expressed the belief that 

 sea cow remains might be found on Agattu Island. 



Goode et al. (1884, p. 136), wrote as follows concerning this 

 find : 



Wosnessenski found a rib of the animal on Attu, the last island of the 

 archipelago, but as Brandt suggests, it may have been derived from a 

 Rhytina washed thither by the waves. Mr. Lucien Turner kindly informed 

 me that an aged Aleut woman stated that Rhytina had been seen at Attu 

 by her father, but such testimony is, perhaps, not altogether satisfactory. 



Thus, we have some evidence that the sea cow may have oc- 

 curred on the westernmost Aleutian Islands, and it would be 

 extremely interesting to have identification of bones from old 

 Aleut village sites. To date, studies of such midden material have 

 not revealed the presence of sea cow remains, and, on the whole, 

 it is likely that this animal never inhabited these islands except 

 as an accidental straggler. 



Family BALAENIDAE 

 Eubalaena sieboldii: Pacific Right Whale 



Aleut (Umnak?): Kuldmax (Jochelson) 



This whale ranged in the Aleutian waters in former times, but 

 since whales of all kinds have been destroyed so extensively, some 

 species have become exceedingly rare, and the right whale is 

 seldom, if ever, seen any more. Osgood (1904, p. 27) mentions 

 a stranded whale between Kanatak and Wide Bay in 1902, which 

 he tentatively assumed to be the right whale. True (1904, p. 270) 

 quotes Pechuel to the effect that a right whale was killed near 

 the Aleutians. Birkeland (1926, p. 26) stated that he knows of 

 only two right whales that were killed at the Akutan whaling 

 station, dating from about 1914 (he has a photograph of one of 

 the two whales mentioned). We saw none of this species on our 

 expeditions to the Aleutians. 



Balaena mysticetus: Bowhead Whale 



Aleut (Umnak?) : Ugamdxcax' (Jochelson) 



Essentially, this is an Arctic whale that came into Bering Sea 

 and visited the Kuril and Aleutian Islands, but it has become rare 

 in the Aleutians. We obtained no certain records of it during 

 our visits. 



