MIGEATIONS OF WHALES KELLOGG 475 



present, with those that have ventured farthest north gradually re- 

 placing those that have been delayed or those that have pursued a 

 more leisurely journey. Humpbacks have been observed along the 

 New England coast, but well off shore, as late as October, and there 

 is at least one December record for Massachusetts. (Allen, 1916, p. 

 309.) We have little actual knowledge in regard to the remainder of 

 their southward trip, except that in former years numbers passed 

 through the Charleston whaling grounds. 



Two annual movements of humpbacks in southern seas are de- 

 scribed by Collett (1912, p. 607) and Risting (1912). They point 

 out that the migration of humpbacks to and from South Georgia 

 each year takes place at definite seasons. Although humpbacks ap- 

 pear first off South Georgia in October, the largest herds arrive in 

 November, December, and January. (Hinton, 1925, p. 90.) Then 

 the humpbacks commence to leave and b}^ the middle of May all have 

 vanished. From May to SejDtember they undertake extensive breed- 

 ing migrations toward the north along South American and South 

 African coasts to warmer oceanic regions near the Equator. Hump- 

 backs occur off the coast of Africa from 3° north latitude to 7° south 

 latitude from June to September. (Clark, 1887, p. 22.) At Sal- 

 danha Bay north of Cape Town humpbacks are most abundant at 

 the end of June and in October. Therefore it would seem that 

 these periods mark the height of the northward and southward mi- 

 grations, respectively. (Hinton, 1925, p. 190.) Humpbacks arrive 

 at Port Alexander, Benguela, early in June, and the majority have 

 passed by the middle of July. The northward run extends from 

 May until the end of July; the return journey extends from the 

 middle of August to the middle of November. The cold northward 

 flowing Benguela current on the west coast of Africa appears to 

 form the only path through the tropical seas to the Equator traversed 

 by these whales, and this cold polar current has an essentially lit- 

 toral course. Thus the humpbacks go northward for pairing and 

 giving birth to their young. The young are born near Cape Lopez, 

 French Equatorial Africa; the Bay of Biaffra off the Cameroons; 

 and elsewhere to the south off Portuguese West Africa. They again 

 appear off Benguela from August to October. Their return journey 

 is a feeding migration to the subpolar waters, where with the ap- 

 proach of the Antarctic spring in November a rich growth of plankton 

 makes its appearance, the result of a peculiar combination of light 

 and cold of the polar summer. The bulk of the southern hump- 

 backs, according to Collett, are present on the great feeding places 

 of the south polar sea during the summer months, December to 

 March. Humpbacks are distributed from Bransfield Strait south to 

 Matha Bay along the western coast of Graham Land, individuals 



