Right Whale 



of the neck always fused together, no fin on the back and 

 no longitudinal groves on the throat. Colour black, some- 

 times slightly varied with white below. 

 Range. North Atlantic Ocean. 



Few persons have opportunities to study the habits of the 

 large whales and those who follow the business of whaling do 

 not, as a rule, record the facts that they may discover regarding 

 the lives of these interesting creatures. The experience of most 

 of us is limited to the glimpse of an occasional spout far out to 

 sea or perhaps the sight of a stranded whale washed up on the 

 beach, a great shapeless mass partially imbedded in the sand and 

 often advanced in decay. It is not always easy to identify such 

 specimens until the skeleton is laid bare, and it is not surprising, 

 since much of our knowledge of whales is based upon skeletons 

 and stranded specimens cast up at widely distant points, that 

 zoologists are still in considerable doubt as to just how many 

 kinds of whales exist. 



From the accounts of those who have studied these gigantic 

 animals in life we learn that when not frightened they remain at 

 the surface to breathe from one and a half to two and a 

 half minutes during which time they spout from six to nine times 

 and then disappear for ten to twenty minutes. When at the sur- 

 face the top of the arched head and the middle of the back are 

 the only parts which project from the water. 



This whale and the allied bowhead {BaUvna mysitceius) of 

 the Arctic regions are especially prized by the whalers on account 

 of the great length of their whale-bone. 



Speaking of the right whale of the Pacific, which is closely 

 allied to the Atlantic animal, Captain Scammon says: "We find 

 the habits of these animals when roaming over the ocean full of 

 interest. They are often met with singly in their wanderings, 

 at other times in pairs or triplets and scattered over the surface 

 of the water as far as the eye can discern from the mast head. 

 Toward the last of the season they are seen in large numbers 

 crowded together. These herds are called 'gams' and they are 

 regarded by experienced whalers as an indication that the whales 

 will soon leave the grounds." It is their habit, he states, to 

 blow seven to nine times at a "rising" and then "turning 

 flukes," as the whalemen say, and elevating the tail from six to 



14 



