CHAPTER X. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



The conclusions reached in the foregoing pages are : 



(1) That the sjiecies of whalebone whales occurring in the western North 

 Atlantic Ocean are identical with those occurring in the eastern North Atlantic. 



(2) That these species are the Bowhead, or Greenland Right whale, Balcena 

 mysticetus, the Black whale, Balwna glacialis, the Humpback, Megaptera nodosa, the 

 Sulphurbottom, Baloenoptera musculus, the common Finback, Balcenoptera physalus, 

 and the Little Piked whale, Balwnoptera acuto-rostrata, and probably the Pollack 

 w^hale, Balcenoptera boreaUs. 



(3) That the range of one of these whales — the Humpback — extends south- 

 ward at least as far as 1 8° North Lat. 



(4) That the probability of the identity of the North Pacific species with 

 those of the North Atlantic is strengthened by the evidence herein collected. 



As modifications of the preceding statements, several particulars require to be 

 brought forward. Both the Little Piked whale and the Humjjback of Greenland 

 may possibly possess characters entitling them to be regarded as separate sub- 

 species. These differences, however, are quite as likely to be due to inaccuracy of 

 observation. As the species are migratory, it is probable that the Greenland indi- 

 viduals rainsle with individuals from farther south and ai-e identical with them 

 both specifically and subspecifically, but additional evidence is needed to prove 

 this hypothesis. 



As no specimens of the Pollack whale, Balmnoptei'a borealis, from American 

 waters have been examined, it is not certain that the species is really the same on 

 both sides of the Atlantic. As the other species are the same, the presumption is, 

 of course, that the Pollack whale also undergoes no modification. This, however, 

 requires to be demonstrated. 



As evidence is strengthened regarding the specific identity of the whales of 

 the North Atlantic and Noi-th Pacific, the belief that the same species of large 

 whales range all over the globe is, of course, also strengthened. It is well-known 

 that whales closely i-esembling Megaptera nodosa, B. cvcuto-rostrata, B. muscxdus, and 

 B.pliysalus — to mention no others — occur in the South Atlantic and the Antarctic 

 seas, and also — the second and last, at least — about New Zealand. 



Some competent zoologists have expressed the opinion that the species are 

 cosmopolitan, but as already said in the case of the North American species, such 

 opinions have not been based to any large extent on the critical examination of 



297 



