OCEANIC MAMMALS 497 



the kelp beds and shot them at close range with bomb lances 

 (this was "kelp whaling"). The whale sinks when dead, but 

 after about 24 hours it is buoyed to the surface by the gases of 

 decomposition. The pursuit of the females in the narrow con- 

 fines of the lagoons and passages was considered much more 

 dangerous than that offshore. The Indians of the Northwest 

 coast also took toll of these whales on their passage northward 

 or southward, and the Eskimo, according to Scammon, killed 

 them farther north. So great became the slaughter that in 

 his day he questioned if the species would not ere long become 

 exterminated. 



Dr. C. H. Townsend, in 1886, wrote that of the 11 whaling 

 stations mentioned by Scammon as earlier established along 

 the coast of California only five then remained. From an 

 elevated lookout about 40 whales were seen passing southward 

 in December, 1885, at the San Simeon station. Allowing as 

 many more to have passed by night, and an equal number for 

 January, gave an estimate of 160 whales that might be seen 

 from one point on the shore. Those nearer shore were believed 

 to be largely females seeking lagoons farther south for bringing 

 forth their young, while those farther offshore were probably 

 mostly males. The lagoon whaling, in Lower California de- 

 scribed by Scammon, had already been given up as no longer 

 profitable. In the following years, however, this must have 

 worked to the advantage of the species, allowing the remnant 

 to breed up in small numbers, for while in 1880 it had not been 

 possible to kill any gray whales, in 1883-84 the total catch of 

 the southern California stations was 58, in 1884-85, 68, but in 

 1885-86, as a result of bad weather, only 41. The numbers 

 seem, however, to have been later reduced to nearly the 

 vanishing point. In recent years a very few have occurred on 

 the Californian coast, so that there may be still some chance 

 that if unmolested in its breeding area, the lagoons of Lower 

 California, its numbers may in time recuperate. Grinnell 

 (1933) notes the following recent records: During a period of 

 three and a half years, from 1918 on, five were captured at 

 Moss Landing whaling station on Monterey Bay; two were 

 seen off San Diego on March 5, 1921; one was killed near 

 Crescent City in July, 1926; and finally one was captured off 

 the coast in 1928. A. B. Howell and Huey (1930) believe it 

 "doubtful whether more than a few dozen individuals survive 



