128 ALLEN: NEW ENGLAND WHALEBONE WHALES. 



in April, 1886, at 7.30 in the morning, headed out to sea, towing the boat with six men, for 

 seven hours; during this time the men were only once able to haul up near enough to dart in 

 a lance, but even then the whale kept 'milling' about in so lively a manner that they were 

 unable to reach a vital spot. Finally they were obliged to cut the line as a dense fog had 

 settled, and they were far from land. Five hours' hard pulling brought them back to Mus- 

 keget (Nantucket Journal, vol. 8, no. 30, April 22, 1886). 



Food. 



The food of the North Atlantic Right Whale consists in large part at least, of the small 

 crustaceans, Thysanoessa inermis, a schizopod, and Calanus finmarchicus, a smaller copepod, 

 which often are found in immense numbers on and near the surface, so that at times they even 

 tinge the water with red. Paul Dudley, in his interesting essay on the New England whales, 

 wrote that the young Right Whales are suckled for the first year, but that they then, "as is 

 generally supposed, live upon some ouzy Matter, which they suck up from the Bottom of the 

 Sea, .... and yet an experienced Whaleman tells me, that he has seen this Whale in still Weather, 

 skimming on the Surface of the Water, to take in a Sort of reddish Spawn, or Brett, as some 

 call it, that at some Times will he upon the top of the Water, for a Mile together." This 

 "reddish Spawn" is none other than the masses of these small crustaceans, commonly known 

 even now as 'brit,' or by the Norwegians as 'krill.' The Calanus is minute, only four milli- 

 meters long, but Thysanoessa inermis is longer, about 16 mm. or five eighths of an inch. In 

 still weather, as observed by Dudley's informant, they may gather at the surface of the sea 

 in enormous multitudes, but if the surface is rough they seek the depths. Collett (1909) who 

 has recently had a very favorable opportunity to study the Right Whale at the Iceland whaUng 

 stations and in the Hebrides, says that their food is exclusively these pelagic crustaceans, 

 which they take in as they pass back and forth in the plankton currents. Buchet (1895) from 

 observations at the same locality, corroborates this statement, though it is still uncertain which 

 of the two species forms the bulk of the food. The copepod is undoubtedly the more abundant, 

 and is more widely distributed; the schizopod is larger and seems to be an animal of more 

 northern waters. No doubt the movements of the whales are largely regulated by the pres- 

 ence of these crustaceans on which they feed. Both species are abundant in the northern 

 seas during summer, but there seems to be little record of their appearance in the winter 

 months. In Vineyard Sound Thysanoessa inermis is known to have been "in two successive 

 years recorded as abundant in January." ^ Bigelow (1914) did not find it in July and August 

 in the Gulf of Maine, which may indicate that it is present in our waters during the colder 

 part of the year only. 



' Sumner, O.sburn and Cole. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., 1913, vol. 31, p. 663. 



