IS4 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



Atlantic sector is carried on at the ice-edge near the South Sandwich Islands, between 

 Bouvet Island and the South Sandwich Islands and between the South Sandwich and 

 South Orkney Islands. Ruud (1932, p. 76) also gives a useful chart showing the extent 

 of the whaling grounds in the season 1929-30. If the charts of these authors are com- 

 pared with Fig. 48, and it is remembered that South Georgia and the South Shetlands 

 are also whaling areas, it will be seen that whales are sufficiently plentiful to be hunted 

 in most of our faunistic areas, i.e. the Graham Land area (South Shetlands and South 

 Orkneys), the transition zone (South Georgia), the eastern Scotia Sea (ice-edge whaling), 

 and the "old" Weddell area (ice-edge whaling). During the cruises of the research 

 ships continuous observations on whales have been made as far as weather conditions 

 allowed, and our experience is that Blue and Fin whales may be met with anywhere 

 in the Graham Land area, the transition zone, the eastern Scotia Sea, the "old" 

 Weddell area, and the western Bellingshausen Sea. These are the same areas as those 

 mentioned above in which whaling is conducted, but with the addition of the western 

 Bellingshausen Sea in which whaling has not yet been developed. In the northern zone 

 it has been observed that whales are very much scarcer, and in the eastern Weddell area 

 practically none were seen. These are also the two areas (besides the Bellingshausen Sea) 

 in which whales are not regularly hunted. In the period 1927-31 only one cruise was 

 made in the eastern Weddell area, but during the recent second commission of the 

 ' Discovery II ' this area was revisited and I am informed that, as before, there was a 

 notable scarcity of whales. 



A comparison of Figs. 2 1 and 48 will show that the normal northern limit of the ' ' krill 

 (Euphausia superba) corresponds with the southern boundary of the northern zone, and 

 it has been seen that scarcely any ' ' krill ' ' was found in the eastern Weddell area (see Table 

 IX, p. 138, WS 544-51). This no doubt accounts for the scarcity of whales in these two 

 regions. It does occasionally happen, however, that a ship passing through the northern 

 zone comes across a large herd of whales. Thus on November 12, 1929, when the 

 'William Scoresby' was in 58 49' S, 57 50' W, near the position of WS 471 (see Fig. 

 12, p. 80), many whales were seen in various directions from the ship, and were recorded 

 as travelling in a southerly direction. There can be no question that these whales were 

 on their way to the southern feeding grounds, and it would be safe to assume that any 

 large body of whales met with in the northern zone is on its way to, or is returning from, 

 the environment it requires in the Antarctic. Even in the areas which they commonly 

 inhabit during the summer, the occurrence of the whales is, of course, very irregular. 

 There are some places, however, in which they are more often found in large numbers 

 than in other places. For instance in parts of the " old " Weddell area, especially to the 

 east of the South Sandwich Islands, and in the eastern part of the Graham Land area 

 around the South Orkneys and South Shetlands, enormous numbers of whales have 

 been seen from time to time, while in the central part of the eastern Scotia Sea area 

 large numbers of whales were rarely seen. The distribution of their food is no doubt the 

 most important factor controlling the local distribution of whales, but there are other 

 factors as well, for we must take into account the distinction between whales which are 



