RORQUALS OR FIN WHALES 227 



are not normally exposed at any stage of the dive. It is 

 not usual either for the Finner to leap clear of the water, but 

 occasional instances have been recorded of wnat must be a 

 most impressive spectacle, and one gets some idea of the 

 tremendous strength of these animals by considering the force 

 that must be required to project their massive bulk and great 

 weight clear of their natural element. 



Stranded Blue Whales are not very common on the British 

 coast, but the Finner is found all round it, and is not concen- 

 trated in any particular area. Systematic records of stranding 

 have been instituted for over twenty years. There has been a 

 marked diminution in the number of Finners reported in the 

 last decade, and it may be that cessation of whaling in British 

 waters has reduced the chance of wounded animals becoming 

 stranded. It is not improbable, however, that the lesser 

 number is associated with a real diminution of the stock of 

 Finners in these northern waters 



The economic importance of the Common Rorqual will be 

 discussed along with that of the Sei and Blue Whales. 



THE SEI WHALE OR RUDOLPHI'S RORQUAL 



{Balcenoptera borealis). Fig. 64. 



The Norwegian name of Sei Whale (Sejhval) applied to 

 Balcenoptera borealis is associated with its appearance off the 

 Finmark coast at the same time of year as the Seje or Coalfish. 

 This rorqual is intermediate in size between the Common 

 Rorqual and the Little Piked Whale, and, according to R. 

 Chapman Andrews, who has written an exhaustive monograph 

 on this species, " it is neither as slender as the Finback nor as 

 ' chunky ' as the Little Piked W T hale, and although it resembles 

 the Blue Whale in some particulars is much more graceful in 

 its general proportions. The body is deepest about opposite 

 the middle of the pectoral fin and, as in other members of the 

 genus, the peduncle is strongly compressed, forming a thin 

 dorsal and ventral ridge and joining the flukes abruptly". 

 The rostrum or beak is sharply pointed as in the Finner and 

 viewed laterally it is slightly curved, recalling the arcuate 

 form of head of Balcena, but of course in a very much less 

 degree. 



