Humpback Whale; Sperm Whale 
Description. Head equal to or rather less than one-quarter the 
total length. Not arched, but broad and flat above. A fleshy 
fin is present on the back, and the throat is longitudinally 
furrowed while the bones of the neck are separate. Colour 
jet black above, including the flippers, white below, marbled 
on the sides by a combination of the two colours. 
Range. North Atlantic Ocean. 
The fin-back is said to be a more active and rapid swimmer 
than the right whale, but its general habits are much the same. 
Judging by stranded examples fin-back whales are the most com- 
mon of the large whales on our Atlantic Coast. 
Besides the common fin-back we have the blue whale (Balen- 
optera musculus), a larger species of a purplish slate colour, while 
other closely allied varieties occur in other parts of the ocean, 
Humpback Whale 
Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre) 
Length. 50 feet. 
Description. Similar to the finback whales, but with the back 
strongly convex and the flippers very long and scalloped on 
the edges. Sooty-black above, white beneath. 
Range. North Atlantic Ocean, represented elsewhere by closely 
allied species. 
THE SPERM WHALES 
Family Physeteride 
Here belong two whales, one large and one small, but both 
recognized by their. regularly toothed lower jaw, toothless upper 
jaw and high vertical forehead. 
Sperm Whale 
Physeter macrocephalus Linnzeus 
Also called Cachalot. 
Length. 60-80 feet. 
