OCEANIC MAMMALS 485 



Whaling history begins with the North Atlantic right whale, 

 which seems to have been first regularly pursued by the 

 Basques of the Biscay coasts of France and Spain. "The 

 industry was important as early as the twelfth century, as is 

 shown by documentary evidence. It is believed to have been 

 going on for a considerable time before that period, probably 

 from the 10th or llth century, at least." This species, char- 

 acterized by its arched and narrowed forepart of the skull, its 

 narrow blades of whalebone, of which the longest in the middle 

 of each rank measures about 7 feet, and by the lack of a dorsal 

 fin, is found in temperate seas, more particularly coastal 

 waters, and is migratory. Formerly on the European coasts it 

 appeared during the winter and early spring months in the 

 near-shore waters. Until perhaps the fifteenth or sixteenth 

 centuries, the Basques carried on a fishery for these whales. 

 "Some of the old watch-towers, situated on eminences over- 

 looking the sea, from which the early whalers first sighted 

 their prey, may still be recognized." When a whale was seen, 

 boats would put out from shore in pursuit, with harpoons. 

 The word "harpoon" is said to be of Basque origin. The Bay 

 of Biscay seems to have been a favorite winter resort for this 

 whale, but even as early as sixteenth century it apparently 

 became less common there, and the Basque whalers went 

 farther and farther afield in its pursuit. There is some evidence 

 that they reached the Newfoundland waters even slightly 

 before Columbus's discovery, but at least by the latter part of 

 the sixteenth century they were regularly pursuing whales here. 

 During at least the first century following the arrival of the 

 Pilgrims, right whales were a source of revenue to the New 

 England colonists. These whales arrived in Massachusetts 

 Bay in autumn, and while many passed on southward to winter 

 as far south as the Carolina coasts others seem to have wintered 

 in the Gulf of Maine and were taken by the settlers in small 

 numbers at that time and especially in early spring when the 

 whales passed northward to their summering "grounds" in the 

 latitude of Iceland. About 50 or 60 "whaling ships visited 

 Iceland annually during the 16th century. The industry 

 flourished specially from 1596 to 1622 between the North Cape 

 and Bear Island, with whaling stations at Hammerfest and 

 elsewhere, but it began to decline at this time, partly because 

 there were fewer whales, but also owing to the fact that the 



