Right Whale 
of the neck always fused together, no fin on the back and 
no longitudinal groves on the throat. Colour black, some- 
times slightly varied with white below. 
Range. North Atlantic Ocean. 
Few persons have opportunities to study the habits of the 
large whales and those who follow the business of whaling do 
not, as a rule, record the facts that they may discover regarding 
the lives of these interesting creatures. The experience of most 
of us is limited to the glimpse of an occasional spout far out to 
sea or perhaps the sight of a stranded whale washed up on the 
beach, a great shapeless mass partially imbedded in the sand and 
often advanced in decay. It is not always easy to identify such 
specimens until the skeleton is laid bare, and it is not surprising, 
since much of our knowledge of whales is based upon skeletons 
and stranded specimens cast up at widely distant points, that 
zoologists are still in considerable doubt as to just how many 
kinds of whales exist. 
From the accounts of those who have studied these gigantic 
animals in life we learn that when not frightened they remain at 
the surface to breathe from one and a half to two and a 
half minutes during which time they spout from six to nine times 
and then disappear for ten to twenty minutes. When at the sur- 
face the top of the arched head and the middle of the back are 
the only parts which project from the water. 
This whale and the allied bowhead (Balana mysticetus) of 
the Arctic regions are especially prized by the whalers on account 
of the great length of their whale-bone. 
Speaking of the right whale of the Pacific, which is closely 
allied to the Atlantic animal, Captain Scammon says: ‘‘ We find 
the habits of these animals when roaming over the ocean full of 
interest. They are often met with singly in their wanderings, 
at other times in pairs or triplets and scattered over the surface 
of the water as far as the eye can discern from the mast head. 
Toward the last of the season they are seen in large numbers 
crowded together. These herds are called ‘gams’ and they are 
regarded by experienced whalers as an indication that the whales 
will soon leave the grounds.” It is their habit, he states, to 
blow seven to nine times at a ‘‘rising’”’ and then ‘‘turning 
flukes,” as the whalemen say, and elevating the tail from six to 
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