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DISCOVERY REPORTS 



The information collected concerning this species of whale has accumulated slowly 

 because comparatively few Sperm whales are taken on the whaling grounds of the far 

 south, and visits by members of the scientific staff to regions where it is more frequently 

 taken have been few. The data collected by the committee's staff and discussed in 

 this report were obtained during the work of six seasons (1925-31). 



Table I. Sperm whale. Distribution of whales examined 



Owing to the fact, discussed below, that on the southern grounds only male Sperm 

 whales are found, to the fact that elsewhere there is selective hunting of the males by 

 the whalers, and to the absence of extensive sexed foetal records, it is unfortunately 

 impossible to come to any conclusion regarding the sex ratio of this species. It is, how- 

 ever, known that the Sperm whale is polygamous and, further, that in far north and far 

 south latitudes the population consists of males only. If, then, the males in high 

 latitudes represent the surplus males which have been unable to secure schools of cows, 

 it appears possible that the sex ratio is fairly even, or at least not differential in favour of 

 the females. The few sexed foetal records shown in Table II, do not contradict this 

 suggestion. 



