292 



DISCOVERY REPORTS 



DECEMBER 



JANUARY 





3'i 



I 



3', 



I V^l—P 



JAN 



\3J 



FEB JAN 



FEBRUARY 



DEC- FEB COMBINED 



Fig. 155. Concentrations of Fin whales from December to January 1923-4 

 (from Kemp and Bennett, 1932). 



and A' and B and B' are not due to the same patches of food. There are many such 

 instances in Kemp and Bennett's report of concentrations being maintained over two 

 months. Some of these may represent concentrations which took place just at the end 

 of one month and the beginning of the next, but Fig. 156 shows such a concentration 

 extending from November to January. That the whales were definitely concentrated at 

 these points is shown by the fact that whalers took a few whales over a wide area outside 

 — they were evidently looking for whales in different directions but could only find them 

 in numbers at the small area of concentration. This must mean that patches of food, 

 particularly in the lee of the island, can remain for a long time in the same place. The 

 whales would not be concentrated at one spot for a long time if their food was not there, 

 and if the patch of food was moving, as no doubt it would be in the open ocean, then the 

 concentration of whales would move and we should get a more spread-out whale dis- 

 tribution. Swirls of this nature have been demonstrated by Tait (1930) in the North 

 Sea from his drift-bottle experiments. It seems likely that Kemp and Bennett's report 

 on the whale distribution from month to month provides a valuable insight into the 

 hydrographic conditions round South Georgia. 



