HUMPBACK WHALE ; CALIFORNIAN GREY WHALE 247 



the best season was October and November, but some whales 

 were taken from April to December. " A great body of these 

 whales, however," he says, " are observed working their way 

 northward until September, when they begin to return south- 

 ward ; and the bay being open to the north many of the 

 returning band follow along its shores or visit the southern 

 extremity in search of food." 



On the South African coast Humpbacks arrive during May, 

 but the majority reach the breeding-places about the middle 

 of July ; whereas in the Antarctic, as indicated by South 

 Georgia whaling statistics, the maximum number is caught in 

 November. 



In the " Terra Nova " report on Cetacea, Lillie, referring to 

 the Australasian region, states that the Humpbacks migrate 

 from the Antarctic at the beginning of the southern winter 

 and pass New Zealand on their way northward between mid- 

 April and the end of August, but chiefly during May and early 

 June. About mid-September in the same locality they are 

 moving south, and during October the migration to higher 

 latitudes is at its height, while by mid-December they are all 

 to the south of New Zealand. 



The behaviour of this creature in the water has many 

 characteristic features. Its blow is a very short broad jet of 

 vapour, distinguishable from the higher, thinner spout of the 

 Rorquals. The number of shallow dives between the deeper 

 or sounding submergences is very variable ; sometimes it is 

 only 1 or 2, and at others 10, 12 or even as many as 18 or 20. 

 The time between these shallow dives is a matter of seconds, 

 but when the animal sounds it may remain below the surface 

 for as long as 15 or 20 minutes. The tail flukes do not appear 

 above the surface of the water except just prior to the sounding 

 dive, then as described by Allen, " the whale goes down in 

 a nearly perpendicular course, more of the posterior part of 

 the body appears above the surface with the greater effort 

 and the flukes of the tail finally rise clear of the water, and 

 following the forward rolling of the body, dip in nearly vertically, 

 looking like the spread wings of a great bird as they disappear ". 

 The whale moves through the water in a leisurely way and, 

 according to Scammon, seldom keeps in a straight course for 

 any considerable distance. At times it lies perfectly motionless 



