Humpback Whale; Sperm Whale 



Description. Head equal to or rather less than one-quarter the 

 total length. Not arched, but broad and flat above. A fleshy 

 fin is present on the back, and the throat is longitudinally 

 furrowed while the bones of the neck are separate. Colour 

 jet black above, including the flippers, white below, marbled 

 on the sides by a combination of the two colours. 



Range. North Atlantic Ocean. 



The fin-back is said to be a more active and rapid swimmer 

 than the right whale, but its general habits are much the same. 

 Judging by stranded examples fin-back whales are the most com- 

 mon of the large whales on our Atlantic Coast. 



Besides the common fin-back we have the blue whale (Balcen- 

 optera musculus), a larger species of a purplish slate colour, while 

 other closely allied varieties occur in other parts of the ocean. 



Humpback Whale 



Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre) 



Length. 50 feet. 



Description. Similar to the finback whales, but with the back 

 strongly convex and the flippers very long and scalloped on 

 the edges. Sooty-black above, white beneath. 



Range. North Atlantic Ocean, represented elsewhere by closely 

 allied species. 



THE SPERM WHALES 



Family Physeterida 



Here belong two whales, one large and one small, but both 

 recognized by their regularly toothed lower jaw, toothless upper 

 jaw and high vertical forehead. 



Sperm Whale 



Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus 



Also called Cachalot. 

 Length. 60-80 feet. 



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