8 DEPARTMENT OF TEE liAYAL SERVICE 



6 GEORGE V, A. 1916 



upon the herring, whilst halibut prey upon octopus, rockfish, herrings, and launces, 

 as well as upon crabs, prawns, and rock-oysters (Anomia). 



May 23 opened with a gale of wind from the west, and we did not get under 

 weigh until the afternoon. A succession of soundings three-quarters of a mile off- 

 shore gave deep water, with bottom shelving abruptl,y to 200 fathoms (found no 

 bottom at 170 fathoms). The limit of the continental shelf lies approximately at the 

 line of 150 fathoms; this line may be 30 or-40 miles offshore, or it may be within 

 territorial waters. At the position where we sounded, the available stretch was too 

 short to venture a set. A flock of " whale birds " or shearwaters came in sight and 

 disappeared one by one under the water, soon afterwards reappearing swimming on 

 the surface. Immense flocks of these birds are sometimes seen, and their presence is 

 welcomed as an indication of abundant food and life in the sea. The wind was 

 succeeded by rain as we entered the Houston Stewart channel and came to anchor 

 in Rose harbour at 8.30. 



Next morning, tlje weather having moderated, we got under weigh at dawn and 

 made a set outside the channel in 50 fathoms, leaving the lines out for three hours, 

 getting about equal numbers of halibut and red cod. In the afternoon another set 

 was made in 100 fathoms, resulting in the capture of the largest halibut of the trip, a 

 female 74 inches long, estimated to weigh 100 pounds. The ovaries were 17 inches long, 

 and together weighed 4i pounds ; they contained under-sized eggs, apparently requiring 

 several more months to reach maturity. Another halibut had the remains of a red cod 

 in its stomach. The hooks also brought up a magnificent scarlet fan-coral (Gorgonid) 

 4 feet high, with thick anastomosing branches and horny axis 1^ inches in diameter 

 near the base. Attached to the basal portion of the stem was another encrusting 

 colony of Alcyonarian polyps belonging to the genus Olavnlaria, with whitish polyp 

 stems and roseate polyp-heads. I submitted samples of both species to Prof. S. J. 

 Hiekson, of Victoria University, Manchester, England, who favoured me with the 

 following information about them: ")The large Gorgonid is probably Primnoa 

 pacifica which was described by Kinoshita in 1907 (J. Coll. Sci. Japan, xxiii)'from the 

 Japanese coasts. He describes this species when alive as being rosy red in colour. 

 To be perfectly certain that this is a correct identification, I should have to examine 

 a large dried specimen so as to compare them as regards the mode of branching, but I 

 have little doubt that it is this species. The Olavularia appears to be Clavularia 

 pacifica of Kukenthal (Zool. Jahrb. Syst. xxxv, 1913, p. 237), but it differs from this 

 species as regards the spicules. The spicules of your specimen are similar, but much 

 more numerous. They are very much the same shape, but are not so large, and 

 inclined to become club shaped. I have noticed also that there are not so many " 

 arranged transversely in the region of the calyx." 



This closed the exploration of the west coast of the Queen Charlotte islands. lu 

 the evening we were crossing the southern end of Hecate strait in the direction east 

 half south. During the night a succession of heavy squalls with rain struck the ship 

 from the south, causing the skipper to heave to. About 10 a.m. on the following day 

 we encountered enormous numbers of " whale birds " flying to windward, accompanied 

 by smaller flocks of little black divers with white bellies, which commonly sport like 

 herrings at the surface, called " bull birds " by the sailors, and Mother Carey's chickens 

 (stormy petrels). The petrels fluttered about floating matter at the surface of the' 

 sea like swallow-tailed butterflies on moist ground. In rough weather they alight on 

 the surface momentarily without closing their wings; they may dive for an instant 

 below the surface, rising again at the same spot and continuing their flight. In the 

 middle of the strait fur seals were seen bobbing vertically in the water, then diving 

 with a curvet like a porpoise; hair seals were seen from time to time during the 

 voyage close to the shore in various inlets; and sea-lions off the western entrance to 

 Houston Stewart channel. After many soundings and changings of the course we 

 anchored in mid-channel in 57 fathoms. The Roosevelt rolled terribly, rendering the 



