THE COMMON RORQUAL 407 



SOUTHERN EIGHT WHALE (Balana australis). 



The Southern Right Whale structurally is almost identical 

 with its northern congener ; in habitat it is exceedingly 

 different. The Greenland Whale is never seen in Temperate 

 waters, and it is a mystery what it does with itself during 

 the long Arctic winter, when all the Polar seas are locked 

 under many feet of ice. Open water is absolutely necessary 

 to the existence of any marine mammal, yet the most enter- 

 prising whale-fishers seek it in vain during the long night of 

 the Arctic regions. The Southern Right Whale, on the other 

 hand, prefers the waters outside the Antarctic Circle, and is 

 found in large numbers as far north as the Cape of Good 

 Hope. Formerly French whalers hunted the southern 

 waters with fair profit to themselves, but in recent years 

 they have ceased operations, and it is doubtful whether a 

 dozen Whales are taken in the course of a year, and those 

 more by accident than of set purpose. Consequently the 

 Southern Right Whale is increasing in numbers, and there 

 are many thousands of square miles of silent seas away 

 from the tracks of ocean-going steamers, where immense 

 herds of Whales live out their lives with only the fear of 

 their strictly natural enemies. 



COMMON RORQUAL (Balanoptera musculus). 



The Common Rorqual is a typical species of the ' finners/ 

 as sailors term them ; the generic name means ' Finned 

 Whale,' in reference to the small back fin that lies near 

 the region of the tail. It attains an enormous size ; one 

 caught in the North Sea was ninety-five feet in length, 

 twenty-two feet in width, and weighed over two hundred 

 and fifty tons. 



Rorquals are the most widely distributed of all the larger 

 Cetaceans ; they are found nearly everywhere outside the 

 Antarctic regions, and are by no means uncommon in 

 British waters. Sometimes when one has been driven 

 ashore it has been an object of curiosity to visitors drawn 

 from far and wide. A little later the sanitary authorities 



