OCEANIC MAMMALS 519 



small numbers, it has also been reported in the catches made 

 in recent years on the coast of California, Grenada, in the 

 West Indies, where two were said to have been killed in 1925, 

 and on the coast of Norway in 1927, but these last records 

 may hardly be accepted without confirmation and rest on 

 identification by the whalers. 



In South African waters this whale is said to come closer 

 inshore than the other large species and to feed on small crus- 

 taceans (Euphausia) and small fishes. In 1911 six were taken 

 at Durban, Natal, and sixteen the following year. In 1924, on 

 the coast of southern Angola, 32 were reported taken, and in 

 1925 seventeen. Whaling there seems to have ended shortly 

 after these years. It is evident that at present this species is 

 taken in small numbers only and may not play much part in 

 commercial whaling. However, with the increasing use of 

 smaller whales, as the larger species diminish, it may eventually 

 be more assiduously pursued. 



BLUE WHALE; "SULPHUR-BOTTOM WHALE" 

 SIBBALDUS MUSCULUS (Linnaeus) 



Balaena musculus Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, p. 76, 1758 ("In Mare 



Scotico," i. e., Firth of Forth, Scotland). 

 SYNONYMY: See Allen, G. M., 1939, p. 268. . 

 FIGS.: True, 1904, pis. 13-21 (exterior); Miller, G. S., Jr., 1924b, pis. 1-3 (skull); pis. 



4-9 (other parts of skeleton). 



The blue whale is often referred to as the largest living 

 mammal. As the prime object of the southern whalefishery 

 during the past quarter century, it is now becoming reduced in 

 numbers, at least in parts of its range, to a point indicating 

 danger, if further depletion of the stocks continues. 



Attaining a maximum length from tip of snout to notch of 

 flukes up to 93.5 feet, it is characterized, among other features 

 by the small, low, triangular fin far aft on the midline of the 

 back; by the general dark blue-gray color of the body, mottled 

 with paler oval marks and marbled irregularly on the throat 

 with whitish flecks; by the convex margins of the rostrum; 

 and by the coal-black whalebone plates, which fray out on 

 their inner margin into coarse, black bristles. The number of 

 these plates in a rank averages around 325, with a considerable 

 variation according to sex and size. Females grow slightly 

 larger than males. The ventral grooves extend as far back as 



