50 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



Number of folds on the belly twenty-six, avercaging in width from four to 

 eight inches. Thickness of blubber five to ten inches. Color a yellowish 

 white. Yield of oil forty barrels.* 



Color of body black, under side of pectorals white. Frequently the under 

 side of the flukes is white likewise, and sometimes the greater portion of the 

 belly. The Humpback, as well as all other whales except the Bowhead or 

 Arctic whale, are infested with parasitic crustaceans, which collect about the 

 head, particularly near the spoutholes, and if there are any scars or sores on 

 the animal's body, this vermin is sure to find them.f They vary from as 

 small as can be discerned with the naked eye to one inch in length, and are of 

 a straw color, furnished with numerous legs, disposed in a row on each side 

 of the body, and a mouth that at least gives a sharp bite to human flesh. 



The Humpback has also growing on its body what are termed barnacles, 

 which appear to collect most on the fins, flukes, and head. This barnacle is 

 entirely diff"erent from that found on a vessel's bottom, timber, rocks, &c., 

 being flat on the side that adheres to the skin, the edges forming a circle, the 

 mouth or opening being in the centre and protected by a rounded, bony or 

 flinty substance, the exterior of which is creased into a rough surface, and in 

 color nearly white, or mottled with black. The size of the barnacle varies 

 from half an inch to two and a half in diameter, and from one-fourth to three- 

 fourths of an inch in thickness. 



The peculiar undulating movement of the Humpback, its frequent round- 

 ings, turning flukes, and irregular course, are characteristic habits that the 

 quick and practised eye of the whaler can distinguish at a long distance. 

 Like all other whales it has two spoutholes, and when it respires, the breath 

 and vapor ejected through these apertures forms the " spout," which rises in 

 two separate columns, joining in one as it ascends and expands. When its 

 enormous lungs are brought into full force the spout rises twenty feet or more. 

 When the whale is going to windward the influence of the breeze upon the 

 vapor is such that a low " bushy " spout is all that can be seen. The number 

 of " spoutings to a rising" is exceedingly varied, sometimes blowing only 

 once, at another six, eight or ten, and from that up to fifteen or twenty 

 times. 



From observations made along the coasts of the North and South Pacific in 

 :regard to their times and places of resort for the jjurpose of bringing forth 

 their young, we deduce the following: 



In the year 1852 — 3 large numbers of Humpbacks resorted to the Gulf of 

 Guayaquil, coast of Peru, to calve, and the height of the season was during 

 the months of July and August. The same may be said of the gulfs and bays 

 situated near the corresponding latitudes north of the equator ; still, instances 

 are not unfrequent when a cow with her young one is seen at all other seasons 

 of the year about the same coast. In the Bay of Valle de Banderas, coast of 

 Mexico, latitude 2C° 30^, in the month of December, we saw numbers of Hump- 

 backs with calves but a few days old. In May, 1855, at Magdalena Bay, coast 

 of Lower California, about lat. 24° 30'', we found them in like numbers, and 

 with very large calves. 



Our belief is that the females of this species may resort in large numbers to 

 favorite inland waters, connected with the ocean, to bring forth their young ; 

 but there are many exceptions to this rule, and on account of their roving 



* The Humpback probably varies more in size and yield of oil than any others of the 

 whale family ; we having frequently taken those that made but eight or ten barrels, and 

 from that up to seventy-five. Their length would vary from twenty-five to sixty-five feet. 

 We have reliable account of one being taken in Monterey Bay, in 1858, whicli produced 

 one hundred and forty-five barrels of oil. 



+ On the coast, in 18.50, we took a whale that had many patches of vermin upon his 

 body, several of them three or four feet in e.vtent. It proved to be what is called a " dry 

 skin," the blubber yielding no oil; and the lean condition of the animal was attributed to 

 :the unusual number of those troublesome creatures upon it. 



[April, 



