HUMPBACK WHALE : CALIFORNIAN GREY WHALE 251 



formed. The 4 digits, the same author tells us, are prominently 

 outlined. 



In the throat region are 2 to 4 grooves upwards of 5 feet in 

 length ; the usual number is 2, 4 being very rare. In this 

 feature the Grey Whale is again intermediate between the 

 Right Whales in which furrows are absent, and the Rorquals 

 in which they are abundant. Andrews has an interesting 

 explanation for the reduced number of furrows in the Grey 

 Whale: "In the existing Babenopterinse " (i.e. Rorquals) 

 " when the lungs are filled with air the whole thorax expands 

 laterally, and with it the flexible skin between the folds. 

 Thus the furrows, besides their original function of increasing 

 the throat capacity during the feeding operation, are also in 

 use during respiration. Rhachianectes being a shallow-water 

 whale and a relatively primitive form has not yet developed 

 the furrows on the breast and abdomen." 



The baleen or whalebone is yellowish-white in colour and the 

 individual blades are very thick and heavy. 138 to 174 blades 

 make up a " side ", the longest being 14 to 16 inches in length. 



Hairs are more abundant on the Grey Whale's head than on 

 those of other whalebone whales. They are to be found in 

 irregular rows on the top of the fore part of the head and along 

 the side of each lower jaw. The greatest concentrations are 

 at the tip of the snout and at the point of the lower jaw. 



The eye is situated, much as in other whalebone whales, 

 above and behind, but in close proximity to, the angle of the 

 gape. The iris is described by Andrews as " a clear dark-brown 

 band 6 mm. wide, the outer edge of which shaded into a 

 narrow whitish ring. Encircling the iris was a band of light 

 grey which shaded off gradually into very dark grey " The 

 pupil is oval with the upper edge rather flattened. 



The external opening of the ear is, as in all Cetacea, an 

 inconspicuous aperture situated at some little distance from 

 the eye, in the area between that organ and the insertion of the 

 nipper. 



The colour of the Californian Grey Whale is indicated by its 

 common name, but there may be a considerable amount of 

 variation in the actual shade. As figured by Scammon, the 

 back may bear a considerable number of white flecks. The 

 colour of the flippers is similar to that of the rest of the body. 



