AN UNDESCRIBED WHALE. 5 



description applied to a whale distinct from the Orca, which was spoken of always as a 

 " piebald whale," or " a whale marked with white patches." 



This high-finned whale, however, of which I am now speaking, is without doubt 

 an otherwise undescribed species, confined perhaps in its distribution to the Antarctic 

 seas. On January 28th, 1902, we saw three together off Boss's Great Ice Barrier, and 

 on February 8th, 1902, again four more of the same kind. They were all of them 

 wholly black above, but had some white about the mouth or chin. In length they 

 were from 20 to 30 feet. But the most striking characteristic about them was 

 the disproportionate height of the dorsal fin, which was erect, pointed, and sabre- 

 shaped, and stood, so far as we were able to judge, from three to four feet high. 



In all but one individual this fin curved slightly backwards, but in one the 

 concavity of the curve was towards the head (see Whales, PL I., fig. 2a). The " spout" 

 appeared simultaneously with the appearance of the tip of the fin, and the nose, which 

 was square and blunt, came well out of the water immediately after (see Whales, PL I., 

 fig. 1). As the head dipped under, the whole back and fin to its base was seen (see 

 Whales, PL I., fig. 2). There is no possibility of mistaking this whale for another ; 

 the length of the fin is approached only by the Orca, whose piebald colour affords 

 an easy means of identification even at a distance. Its movements are also very 

 much more slow and dignified than the rapid racing of a herd of Orca whales, and 

 I have no hesitation in declaring it to be a new species of which no example has as 

 yet been taken, though I cannot refer it to any known genus. 



HYPEROODON ROSTRATUS. 



Bottle-nosed Whale. 



Bakena roslrata, 0. F. Miiller, Zool. Dan. Prod. (1776), p. 7. 

 Hyperoodon restrains, Flower, op. cit., p. 9. 



A whale yet remains to be mentioned which I identify nevertheless with much 

 hesitation, as it is impossible to be confident without having had a specimen to examine. 



On February 25th, 1902, when the ice had broken back in McMurdo Sound to 

 a point some miles farther South than our winter quarters, we were visited by a small 

 herd of long-snouted black whales which made a great noise in blowing and splashing 

 about at play. There were about six or eight together, and all were in a sportive mood, 

 and one as we were watching " breached," leaping clear of the water, in this way 

 showing himself full length and broadside on against the sky. 



The sketch which is given (see fig. 3) was made upon the spot. The animal 

 was some 20 to 30 feet in length, and wholly black above and below. The dorsal 

 fin was a mere excrescence. In shape, the whale was long and slim, with a very 

 prominent forehead and well-marked beak. 



Others of a similar kind were reported as "Bottle-nosed Whales" by various 

 officers of the relief ship ' Morning,' and these were seen at the edge of the fast ice in 

 McMurdo Sound during February of 1903 and 1904. It seems, therefore, on the 



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