WHALE FOOD 483 



Island was closed sixteen years ago, it is difficult now to trace anyone who worked there 

 or who would be able to give reliable information on the question. Herr Sigurd Risting, 

 of Sandefjord, Norway, is likewise unable to trace anyone at this distance of time. 

 Dr Kemp adds that he has made many enquiries without result. The information 

 received from Captain Fagerli, however, shows that on the Patagonian coast M.gregaria 

 and its Grimothea stage form the food of the Sei whale. During the seasons 1927-8 and 

 1928-9 between 1300 and 1400 Sei whales were taken, all of which were feeding on 

 lobster-krill. Both adult M. gregaria and the Grimothea stage were found in the whales ; 

 nearly always the stomachs contained either adults or Grimothea, rarely both. Many 

 whales were taken feeding at or near the surface, but there is no evidence indicating 

 that any were feeding on adult M. gregaria at the bottom. The same lobster-krill was 

 also found in Humpback and Right whales, two of the former and three of the latter 

 having been taken. Three Blue whales were taken, but none had this krill in the stomach. 

 In 1926 at Magdalena Bay on the Pacific coast of Mexico where similar shoals, pre- 

 sumably of Pleuroncodes planipes, were seen, the Sei, Humpback and Pacific Grey, but 

 not the Blue whales, were found to be feeding on these Crustacea. 



Captain Fagerli noticed that the blubber oil obtained from Sei whales on the Pata- 

 gonian and Mexican coasts was always of a definitely yellowish colour, quite unlike that 

 obtained from this species elsewhere. He believes that the difference in colour is pro- 

 duced by feeding on lobster-krill. 



