688 A. E. Verrill—-The Bermuda Islands. 
b6.—The Fin-back Whale. (Balenoptera, sp.) 
It is asserted by those formerly conversant with the whale fishery, 
that a true Fin-back was sometimes seen, but that it was danger- 
ously pugnacious, and therefore was not attacked. Which species 
this may have been is quite uncertain, but it may well have been B. 
physalus L. (See fig. 44a.) 
e.— The Cape Whale ; Black Whale; Biscay Right Whale. (Balena 
glacialis Bonnaterre= B. cisarctica.) 
FIGURE 45, 
This whale, which rather closely resembles the true Right Whale 
or Bow-head of the Arctic Ocean, and has often been mistaken for 
it, is found on both sides of the Atlantic, in temperate latitudes, 
entirely south of the range of the Bow-head, which is strictly con- 
fined to the arctic seas. 
It has, apparently, never been common at the Bermudas, occurring 
there at long intervals, irregularly and in small numbers, though it 
was doubtless more common in early times than now, but the early 
records are usually not explicit enough to distinguish it from the 
Hump-back. It is a shorter and thicker species, with a stout, bluff 
head, and no dorsal fin. The slabs of whalebone are much more 
valuable, and are often 6 to 8 feet long. 
Figure 45.—The Biscay Right Whale 
Figure 44a.—Fin-back (B. physalus). or Cape Whale. 
I have learned from Mr. Hayward of St. David’s Island, who for- 
merly engaged in the whale fishery, that these whales were occasion- 
ally taken, but were always comparatively rare. He also states that 
one was taken in Castle Harbor, in 1792, which is the only known 
instance of a whale being taken in the enclosed bays of the islands. 
Mayor J. M. Hayward, of St. George’s, tells-me that a pair of them 
were taken about 1840. 
But I have not been able to find positive records of any more 
recent captures of this kind, though Mayor Hayward thinks that 
two or three of them may have been taken since that date. 
