27© 



DISCOVERY REPORTS 



The British Museum statistics available up to date are as follows ■ 



Work was started at Grytviken, South Georgia, on February 5, 1925. By this 

 date, the South Georgia whaling season was half finished, but both Blue and Fin 

 whales were fairly plentiful and 241 whales were examined up to May 11 before the 

 stations closed for the winter. Among these Blue and Fin whales were fairly equally 

 represented and both large and small specimens were plentiful. The average size of 

 the Blue whales, however, was small, more than half being actually immature. The 

 catching was fairly regular during February, but few whales were taken in March 

 until towards the end of the month. There was no special feature about the catches in 

 April and May, except that fewer whales were caught as the season advanced. 



The 1925-6 season opened in the middle of October, the first whale being examined 

 on October 15. Up to Christmas the whales were phenomenally scarce, and of 

 both species those which were taken were on the average very large. At the end of 

 December there was a sudden and enormous increase in the numbers of whales, due 

 to the unexpected appearance of an immense quantity of male Fin whales about 

 70 miles off the north-east coast of South Georgia. Later on they approached closer 

 to the island and began to feed, and more females were caught with them. Blue whales 

 remained scarce until the latter part of February and the beginning of March when 

 a fair number of small ones were caught. The average size of the whales of both species 

 declined considerably during the last two months of the season. The greatest number 

 was caught in January and February, and of these the vast majority were Fin whales. 

 The season continued into May, but we were unable to examine any more whales after 

 the end of March owing to our departure for South Africa early in April. The total 

 number of whales measured at South Georgia from February 1925 until Christmas 

 was 296, but by March 29, 1926, the figure had risen to 738. 



The work was resumed at Messrs Irvin and Johnson's whaling station at Saldanha 

 Bay, Cape Colony, on June 15, 1926. Saldanha Bay lies about 60 miles north of Cape 

 Town, and the whales are mostly caught from 20 to 30 miles off this part of the coast. 

 Four hundred and fifty-four whales were examined between June 15 and October 11. 

 The catches here are quite different from those at South Georgia except in the fact that 

 the great majority are Blue and Fin whales. The majority of the whales are small and 

 immature, only 10-20 per cent being adult. At South Georgia again there is a great 

 deal of variation in the numbers of whales caught at different times, whereas at Saldanha 

 Bay they are brought in in moderate numbers with great regularity throughout the 

 season. This is partly due to the more settled weather off the African coast, but there 



