286 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



Azores there are no reliable * records of female sperm whales in the North Atlantic catches comprising 

 those from Scotland (Haldane, 1909, 1910; Thompson, 1918, 1928), Newfoundland, Iceland, Faeroe 

 Islands, West Greenland and Norway* {International Whaling Statistics, 1938-55). Townsend's 

 charts show only one sperm whaling ground to the north of the Azores. This was the Commodore 

 Morris Ground where whaling was conducted in summer about 600 miles westward of Land's End. 

 Possibly the Azores contribute a few summer whales to this ground which may also receive some of 

 those sperm whales, practically all males, which, judging from the catches of (unrestricted) steam 

 whaling at Setubal, appear to pass the coast of continental Portugal in spring and early summer, and 

 again in late autumn and early winter, presumably on their way to and from higher latitudes 

 (Fig. 16 f); in this connection also it is worth noting that Thompson's figures (1918, 1928) show that 

 the season for sperm whaling off Scotland was in high summer, especially August, which is a poor 

 month for Setubal. 



20 - 



10 



"i 1 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — r 



JAN FEB . MAR.APR.MAY.JUM.JUL.AUC.SEP.OCT.NOV.DEC. 



Fig. 15. Monthly catches of males and females in 

 Madeira from 195 1 to 1954. 



MALES 

 FEMALES 



:i 



11 1 1 ^—\ r^— 1 1 1 — 1 



JAN. FEB, MAR. APR. M AY. JUN. JUL. AUC. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. 



Fig. 16. Monthly catches at Setubal, Portugal from 

 1946 to 1950. 



These remarks on the migrations of sperm whales in the eastern North Atlantic, summarized in 

 Fig. 17, are based on the circumstantial evidence of catch statistics and they are intended as no more 

 than conjectures. The catches involved are not large and it would be profitable to analyse on similar 

 lines the detailed records maintained by the Gremio dos Armadores da Pesca da Baleia of all whales 

 caught at the Azores, Madeira and Setubal since 1946. However, unless adequate whale marking can 

 be done in the North Atlantic we may expect no definite conclusions on the distribution and migrations 

 of sperm whales in these seas. 



RACIAL IDENTITY OF THE STOCK 



The present report, whilst particularly concerned with the Azores, has also attempted a comparative 

 treatment looking for any differences which may exist between the various stocks of sperm whales in 

 different oceans. The available data, although not sufficient for any firm conclusions, do appear to 

 merit a general discussion. 



Published reports based on data from a series of sperm whales are limited at present to samples 

 from stocks of the Southern Seas (South Georgia and South Africa), of the eastern North Pacific 

 (Japan and the Bonin Islands) and of the North Atlantic (Azores). 



* Six whales from Norway are recorded in the International Whaling Statistics as females, but none measured less than 

 44 ft. and they were doubtless males. See p. 243. 



(• From records in the Estatistica das Pescas Maritimas (1946-50) of 131 male and eighteen female sperm whales caught at 

 Setubal, Portugal. 



