CETACEANS: WHALES and PORPOISES 



Twenty kinds of cetaceans liave been recorded 

 from Alaskan waters. Many are important in the 

 economy of the Eskimos. They ranpe in size from 

 the bhie wliale, larjjest known animal, living or 

 extinct, to tJie smaller porpoises. Some, like the 

 beluga, frequent sliallow coastal waters and have 

 been seen 500 miles up the Yukon Eiver (at Nu- 

 lato), while others, such as the right whale, occur 

 only in deep waters. The gray whale makes long 

 annual migrations, while tlie bowhead is resident 

 in the Arctic Ocean. The sperm and finback 

 whales are cosmopolitan, while the narwhal occurs 

 only in polar regions. Other species have been 

 reported, but without authentication. Probably 

 other cetaceans, normally limited to more southern 

 waters, will in time be recorded as straying into 

 Alaskan waters. Mapj^ing locality records of the 

 cetaceans is impractical here, l)ut the following 

 list indicates their general occurrence : 



PrincipaUy north of Bering Strait : 



White whale or beluga, Delphinapterus Jeueas 



(Sisuak). 

 Narwhal, Monodon monoceros (Sisuak tuvalik) . 

 Bowhead whale, Balaena mystlcetus (Agvik, 

 Ingot uk). 



North and south of Bering Strait: 



Pacific killer whale, Grampii.^ rectipinvna 



(Aglu). 

 Harbor poi^poise, Phocoerta, vom^rina (Ag^'isu- 



ak). 

 Gray whale, Esrhrirhtiufi gJauc^is (Ag^nkluak). 

 Little piked whale, Baktenoptera acutorostrata. 

 Finback whale, Balaenoptera physalus. 

 Humpback whale, Megaptera, novaeangliae. 



Principally .south of Bering Strait : 



Baird Ijeaked whale, Berardius hairdi. 

 Stejneger beaked whale, Mesoplodon steJTiegeri. 

 Cuvier beaked whale, Ziphius cavirostris. 

 Sperm whale or cachalot, Physeter catodo-n 



(Ahovikgluk). 

 Right -whale dolphin, Lissodelpihis horealis. 

 Pacific striped porpoise, LagenM'hynchus obli- 



quiden-s (Agamakchik). 

 Pacific blackfish, Glohlcephala scammoni. 

 Dall porpoise, Phocoenoides dalli. 

 Rorqual or sei whale, Balasnoptera horealis. 

 Blue or sulfur-bottom whale, SibhaMus muscu- 



lus. 

 Pacific right whale, Eubalaena sieboldi (Aho- 



vik). 



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