COMMON FINBACK WHALE. 195 



A school of Finbacks numbering about twelve was discovered off Cape Cod about the 

 first of June, 1888, by the whaling steamer A. B. Nickcrson (Nantucket Journal, vol. 10, no. 

 36, June 7, 1888). 



What must have been an immense school of Finbacks was seen by officers of the United 

 Fruit Company's steamer Esparta, when off Nantucket South Shoal Lightship about the 

 middle of July, 1909. They were scattered as far as the eye could reach and were estimated 

 to number "hundreds." According to the report they were heading north and "were evi- 

 dently in pursuit of mackerel" (Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, vol. 90, no. 3, July 17, 1909). 



Great numbers of Finbacks were seen off South Shoal Lightship in the last part of August, 

 1913, by Mr. W. W. Welch of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. 



In Scandinavian seas, Millais reports that a whaling captain observed near two hundred 

 Finbacks in sight at once from the masthead. They were scattered over an area of some 

 five square miles, singly or by twos and threes. 



Rest. 



As to the manner and time when these whales rest, and the duration of their in- 

 activity, we are in almost utter ignorance. Probably they do actually sleep like other 

 mammals, and this by day as well as by night. An intelligent Norwegian whaler with whom 

 I talked on the Newfoundland coast, believed that Rorquals slept at night at the surface of 

 the water, as shown by the fact that one night the whaling steamer while returning up Placentia 

 Bay, ran into one. Yet collisions may occur when whales are attempting to cross a vessel's 

 bows, so the incident is not conclusive. True (1904) quotes from an old narrative by a 

 Franciscan monk, Sagard-Theodat, 1 written in 1632, concerning whales seen in the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence off Gaspe". He says (translated), "The first whale that we saw at sea was asleep, 

 and as we passed quite close the ship was turned a little, for fear that upon awaking it might 

 do us some harm." Again he says, "The Gibars and other whales sleep holding their heads 

 extended out of the water, so that this blowhole is exposed and at the surface." The term 

 Gibar seems to have been used to include Finback and Humpback Whales. 



Accidents and Fatalities. 



Of the larger Cetacea frequenting the New England coasts, the Finback Whale is the 

 one most commonly found stranded. This may in part be due to the fact that it is the most 

 numerous of the big whales, but I think, also that it comes in shore in pursuit of small schools 

 of fish or enters shallow water more frequently than the Sulphurbottom or the Sperm Whale, 

 and because of its large size is less able to escape from shallows than the smaller Humpback, 



1 Sagard-Th6odat, G. Le Grand Voyage au Pays des Hurons, 1632. 



