210 



DISCOVERY REPORTS 



damage by the harpoon or to the fact that the whale had not been feeding. This is of 

 little importance however, for the table is intended only to show that most of the whales 

 were eating plenty of krill. 



At the beginning of the season 1936-7 there is only a general note that the stomachs 

 of nearly all whales taken (except on two days) contained large quantities of krill. There- 

 after notes were made for individual whales, and we see that the figures are on the whole 

 very similar for the two seasons. Full stomachs are found in 70-80 % of Blue whales, 

 50-60 % of Fin whales, and over 90 % of Humpbacks. There was some indication that 

 empty stomachs may be found a little more often in the early and late part of the season, 

 but a larger body of material would be needed for a reliable comparison month by month. 

 Large and small krill occurred all through the season, and the stomachs as often as not 

 contained mixtures of sizes. 



The fact that krill is almost the exclusive diet of these whales in the Antarctic may be 

 demonstrated by a list of the only organisms other than krill found among the hundreds 

 of stomachs examined by Major Spencer. These are shown in Table 6. It will be seen 

 that fish are occasionally eaten (probably always the familiar 'ice-fish'), and that squids 

 are occasionally present. Usually, and possibly always, krill was also present. In only 

 one instance was there a substantial diet of anything other than krill. That was when 

 fifty fish were found in one stomach on 8 January 1938, and even then krill was also 

 present. The 'Southern Princess' was working between 30 and 95 E in 1936-7 and 

 between 70 and 95 E in 1937-8. Nothing but krill is recorded in the stomachs of 

 Humpbacks. 



In the season 1 940-1, Mr Crimp worked in the factory ship ' Svend Foyn' in another 

 part of the Antarctic, 30-55 W. Blue whales were scarce and Humpbacks were not 

 taken, but in 156 stomachs of Fin whales which he examined 54 % had much krill, 

 17 % a moderate amount, 28 % little and 1 % none. 



Another shrimp-like organism, very similar to the true krill, is known to occur in 

 certain coastal waters around the Antarctic continent. This is Euphausia crystallorophias. 

 Its distribution has not been fully worked out, but it has been found by the ' Discovery 

 II ' here and there around the Graham Land Archipelago and in considerable swarms in 

 the southern part of the Ross Sea. It appears to be confined to shoal waters around the 



