J26 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



port ; then they would streak ahead jumping high, sometimes in pairs, sometimes in threes and some- 

 times in unison, and then came closer to the ship again. Soon they split again, and the fewer they were 

 the more wary they became and the harder to mark. 



This one day was particularly memorable as giving us whales in three distinct moods : in early 

 morning and late afternoon the schools of medium size which allowed pursuit and approach ; before 

 and after noon, the very small schools that were indifferent; in the late evening, the sportive whales 

 in a large gathering. One or other of the same moods was recognized on other occasions also. 



If a disposition to be preoccupied indicates that whales are feeding, as the observations on 1 1 and 

 22 January have been interpreted, then their aloof manner at noon on 8 January points to the same 

 conclusion. Here, their behaviour had the following characteristics: 



(i) The whales were widely scattered, 

 (ii) The schools were very small, 

 (iii) They were blowing leisurely at long intervals, 

 (iv) The whales were preoccupied, 

 (v) The hour was round about noon. 



The most noticeable way in which behaviour on 8 January differed from that on 1 1 and 22 January, 

 was the greater depth to which the whales may be inferred from (iii) to have been sounding, and the 

 very small size of the schools. The former is thus a sign that the krill were at some considerable depth 

 while the smallness of the school seems in some way connected. 



The gathering into larger schools towards evening, the high spirits and the attention to the ship, go 

 to indicate that the work of the day was over. We came to regard the evening as a time when whales 

 were likely to be more markable ; and in the opinion of the writer the change of attitude affords circum- 

 stantial evidence that earlier in the day, good feeding had been found at considerable depths. 



Through the night, the whales may equally have been feeding or resting. What they were doing 

 at dawn did not become apparent either. In the early morning, the schools were usually bigger and 

 less restive, and the whales still easier to mark than later in the day. 



Off South Georgia on 16 January, three whales provided, in another locality, an excellent example 

 of the aloofness with which feeding in deep water has come to be identified. For a good hour, the ship 

 had been hanging round the first of these whales and the prospect of marking it seemed hopeless— the 

 animal sounded for long periods and always rose out of reach. At last at 17.10 hr. the miracle happened : 

 the whale reappeared close to us and swam on a course which must cross our path. In many circum- 

 stances it would have turned away, but in holding its course and in diving to avoid collision it showed 

 itself to be preoccupied, and in the light of other observations, the conclusion is irresistible that it was 

 busy feeding. 



A second example was a pair of whales met with shortly before sunset which in turn detained the 

 ship for over an hour. When at last at 20.00 hr. by a stroke of genius, the captain manoeuvred the 

 ship into their line of advance, the whales, instead of fleeing, continued in their courses and the pair 

 was marked in two consecutive shots (mark nos. 7006 and 701 1). 



Gambols and eccentricities of behaviour 

 Beyond suggesting that whales take part in pursuits usually termed 'play', the following note is 

 inconclusive. That whales have shown excitement after a day's feeding has been mentioned. A 

 gathering of them in much the same mood was met close to the surface at 13.00 hr. on 29 December. 

 They were estimated to number about fifty and were blowing in succession with a continuity suggestive 

 of a rocket display. The school did not seem to be feeding at the moment of our arrival, for almost 



