374 



DISCOVERY REPORTS 



the irregular white or grey flecks scattered over the skin in Blue whales which are due, 



apparently, simply to incomplete pigmentation of the epidermis. ^^^^^^^^_^^^^ 



The scars are obviously the result of wounds or sores. They 



occur mainly on the posterior end of the body, sometimes in 



such numbers that the colour of the animal is distinctly paler 



on the sides above the anus than at the head or in the flipper ^;::-;:fe-.-iviva;;i . ■ 



region. The scars are normally more numerous on the larger 



whales than on the smaller ones. They are usually of an oval 



shape with the long axis of the oval parallel with the long 



axis of the animal's body (Plate XXXVI, fig. lo). Sometimes 



they are quite white and sometimes composed of radiating 



white streaks. The centre line is an elongated cicatrix generally 



somewhat sunk below the level of the epidermis. Occasionally 



the scars take the form of a white crescent (Plate XXXVI, fig. 5). 



At Saldanha Bay nearly all the whales captured had open 

 wounds or pits on the flanks and tail, as well as various healing 

 stages of these pits and white scars like those found on the 

 whales at South Georgia. The open, unhealed pits of the 

 South African whales were not seen at South Georgia and only 

 rarely were the partly healed pits to be found there. 



The open pits of the South African whales are very re- 

 markable (Plate XXXVI, fig. 6). They are oval, scooped-out 

 wounds in the skin and blubber about 7 cm. long, 4-5 cm. 

 broad and 3 cm. deep. The long axis is usually parallel to the 

 long axis of the whale's body. 



From the appearance of the wounds one might think that 

 a lump of blubber had been scooped out at a single stroke by 

 some sharp spoon-shaped instrument, but a close examination 

 shows that a fringe of minute processes arise at the edge of 

 the pit just beneath the border of the epithelium (Plate XXXVI, 

 fig. 6). No marks suggestive of teeth outside the lip or inside 

 the pit can be seen, and the fringed edge does not give the 

 impression that it has been caused by say a sucking mouth. 

 The surface of these pits is naked, unaltered blubber. 



Of almost equal frequency are pits of similar shape with a 

 flabby disc of greyish tissue attached by its centre to the middle 

 of the base of the pit (Plate XXX, fig. 8). This disc, ap- 

 parently, is thrown off during the process of healing of the pit. 



Sometimes crescent-shaped wounds were found. The ap- 

 pearance of this kind of pit suggests that the scooping action 

 which might have gouged out the open pits had been arrested 





Fig. III. Successive stages 

 in the formation and healing 

 of a pit in the blubber. 



so that a free flap of tissue remained attached to one side of the pit (Plate XXXVI, 



