144 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



In a few instances the decline of a whale fishery has been due in part to causes other 

 than depletion of the stock; but, bearing all the facts in mind, grave apprehension was 

 felt regarding the future of the great whaling industry in the Dependencies of the Falk- 

 land Islands, and from the beginning the course of its development has been closely 

 followed by Government. Regulations were put in force for the control of whaling, 

 but it soon became evident that far more scientific knowledge was required for adminis- 

 trative purposes, and that the acquisition of such knowledge was the only way by which 

 the permanent prosperity of the industry could ultimately be secured. It was accordingly 

 suggested that a series of scientific investigations should be undertaken in southern 

 waters and the question was referred by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to an 

 Interdepartmental Committee. The Committee made a thorough examination of all 

 the problems involved and in its report, published in 1920,^ indicated the more im- 

 portant lines on which research was required. As a result of its recommendations the 

 'Discovery' was purchased, and in due course the present Discover)' Committee was 

 appointed by the Secretary of State to conduct the investigations. The cost of the work 

 is defrayed from revenues raised from the whaling industry in the Dependencies of 

 the Falkland Islands. 



The main object of the work was thus to obtain further information on whales and 

 on the factors which influence them, and before coming to a detailed description of 

 the equipment and methods which are being employed, it will be useful to give some 

 general account of the plan of operations which the Discovery Committee has adopted. 



It was realized at the outset that a great deal of valuable information could be obtained 

 by examination of whales brought in by whale-catchers. The precise identification of 

 the common southern rorquals could not be regarded as definitely settled, for though 

 it was generally recognized that the Blue and Fin Whales of the southern ocean closely 

 resembled those to which the same names had been applied in the north, the possibility 

 that the southern forms might represent a distinct race could not lightly be dismissed. 

 Some might think this a question of purely zoological interest, but it must be pointed 

 out that it has a very definite bearing on the economic aspect of whaling. If the rorquals 

 in the south can be shown to be racially distinct from those which live in the north 

 some degree of isolation of the two stocks may be inferred, and conversely, if no such 

 distinction exists, some intermixture of these stocks is rendered probable. In dealing 

 with migratory animals such as whales accurate knowledge on this point cannot fail 

 to be valuable. It may set a limit to the area through which the southern stock ranges, 

 and it will inevitably be of importance in studies of migration. This problem of the 

 racial identity of southern whales is being attacked mainly by statistical methods. 



In the economic study of any mammalian stock there are certain elementary facts 



which must be thoroughly understood before progress can be made. Among the more 



important are the rate of growth, the age at sexual maturity, the time of pairing, the 



period of gestation, the number at a birth, the length of the suckling period and the 



^ Report of the Interdepartmental Committee on Research and Development in the Dependencies of the Falkland 

 Islands, Cmd. 657, London, 1920. 



