1898] THE MIGRATION OF THE RIGHT WHALE 399 



on the east side of that frozen land to the western shores of Spitz- 

 bergen, and on the other westward to the waters of the Arctic 

 archipelago forming the much broken extension of British North 

 America, and comprising Davis Strait, Baffin Bay and the many straits 

 and sounds lying still further west, but to what precise extent is not 

 fully known. On the east side of Greenland, Balaena mysticetus 

 winters in about 65^ N. latitude, and has been found as far north as 

 the barrier presented by the border of the permanent polar pack. 

 Its range on the west side will be discussed later on, since it is 

 intended at present to confine ourselves to the Greenland seas. In 

 all its wanderings it rarely quits the ice-edge, and may be said to 

 inhabit " the region of the loose ice and open water-spaces, bounded 

 on the one side by the sea, and on the other by the edge of the solid 

 ice, nearer by choice to the former than to the latter " (Gray). 



I will now endeavour to trace the migration of the Eight Whale 

 in the Greenland seas, but first it should be explained that when 

 migrating the behaviour of the whale differs materially from its mode 

 of proceeding at other times. Dr E. Gray {in lit.) tells me that a 

 whale ' on passage ' may be readily recognised, " it goes steadily 

 onward with considerable rapidity, with the upper jaw from the tip 

 of the nose backward as far as the blow-holes above water, the 

 body submerged, and, except for the eddy caused by the action of 

 its tail, apparently motionless. It continues thus for some five or 

 ten minutes, blowing at regular intervals all the while, then, throw- 

 ing up its caudal fin it leaves the surface and before re-appearing 

 may have performed the distance of a mile. Swerving neither to the 

 right nor to the left, it continues its onward journey and no ordinary 

 ice-field causes it to alter its course." Scoresby says that a " run of 

 whales of a particular tribe passing from one place to another has 

 been traced in a direct line from south to north, along the edge of the 

 western ice through a space of two or three degrees of latitude, where 

 it has entered the ice to the north-west and passed beyond the reach 

 of the fishermen." ^ On such occasions they usually associate in small 

 flocks or ' schools,' but have been observed in considerable numbers. 

 Dr Brown was informed by Dr M'Bain, E.N., that a little north of 

 Pond's Bay he saw a continuous flock of several hundreds pass north, 

 and a few days after they were followed by a herd of walruses, the 

 numbers of which were " beyond all computation," all seeming intent 

 on reaching the opening to Lancaster Sound. Dr Brown pertinently 

 asks, where could such a number of these huge animals come from ? 



Not much is known with regard to the sojourn of the whales in 

 their winter quarters. As the ice becomes disrupted in the early 

 spring they pass along to the northward, availing themselves of the 



^ "An Account of the Arctic Regions," by W. Scoresby, jun. 2 vols. Edin- 

 burgh, 1820. Vol. ii., p. 214. 



