240 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



Investigations on whales caught round a single island (Fayal) provide the bulk of the material for 

 this report, so it is well to note that the nine volcanic islands of the Azores, lying towards the middle 

 of the North Atlantic around 38 N. and some 900 miles from Lisbon (Fig. 17, p. 287), are a scattered 

 archipelago disposed in three groups about 100 miles apart, nearly 400 miles separating Corvo in the 

 west from Santa Maria in the east (Fig. 1). Fayal is situated in the Central Group. It is satisfactory 

 to observe that, where the data allow comparison (pp. 280 and 282), the island of Fayal in its 

 relation to whales appears to be a microcosm of the archipelago as a whole. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



I again thank all those who specially assisted me during my visit to Lisbon and the Azores in 1949: 

 their names are given in the earlier report. I have made further visits, and now gratefully acknowledge 

 the interest taken in my work by Commander Henrique dos Santos Tenreiro, Government Delegate 

 to the Organismos das Pescas, and by the officers of the Gremio dos Armadores da Pesca da Baleia, 

 especially the President, Senhor Francisco Marcelino dos Reis, and the Secretary, Dr Joao Carlos 

 Duff Burnay Carvalhosa. To these gentlemen in Lisbon I am indebted for many privileged facilities 

 in the Azores. 



The present report could not have been written without the most generous assistance of two 

 friends, Mr B. L. Collins of Horta, until recently British Consular Agent, and Senhor Jose Tavares 

 dos Reis, manager of the whaling station at Porto Pim. When I left Horta in September 1949, Senhor 

 Reis spontaneously offered to continue the routine examination of whale carcasses, and this scheme 

 was kindly approved by Senhor Joaquim Martins do Amaral, owner of the station. Most of the 

 results presented here are derived from notes and collections to which Senhor Reis has devoted much 

 care and time over the years. I am happy also to recall his great help in 1949, and also the companion- 

 ship of his whalemen at Porto Pim, where, on a flensing platform where neither he nor any other 

 spoke English, Senhor Reis patiently laboured to see that this was no barrier to my work. Mr Collins, 

 who gave me such warm support in 1949, has continued by his collaboration with Senhor Reis to 

 look after my scientific interests in Fayal and attend to the forwarding of data and collections. Here 

 I would like to thank Dr Antero Ramos Taborda, formerly Director of Customs at Horta, and the 

 present Director, Dr Aristides Taborda, who have smoothed many difficulties in the carriage of 

 scientific material. Senhor Jacinto Silviera de Medeiros of Horta has kindly provided details of the 

 recovered harpoons recorded in Table 26, p. 277. 



Occasionally I have referred to work done in the Antarctic during the 1947-8 whaling season when 

 I sailed as Whale Fishery Inspector on board Fl. F. Southern Harvester. I am indebted to the owners, 

 Messrs Christian Salvesen & Co., and to Captain Konrad Granoe, for the facilities and co-operation 

 enjoyed at that time. I should like to thank also Captain H. Jespersen, managing director of Scottish 

 Whalers Ltd., for facilities when in June 195 1 I visited the whaling station at West Loch Tarbert, 

 Harris, and examined a sperm whale which has its place in this report (p. 252). 



At home I thank Mr Bernard Stonehouse, of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, who has 

 generously provided details of new-born sperm whales which he examined during a visit to the 

 Azores in 195 1 (Table 22, p. 269). Remarks on the male sexual cycle (p. 271) owe much to the kind 

 assistance of my colleague Dr R. M. Laws. There are certain other acknowledgments in the text. 



Dr F. C. Fraser of the Natural History Museum and my colleague Dr H. E. Bargmann have kindly 

 read a preliminary draft of this report and given their helpful criticism. Finally I thank Dr N. A. 

 Mackintosh, C.B.E., for his advice and guidance at all stages of the work. 



