100 THE FISHING INDUSTRY 



height of the mouth cavity and providing ample room 

 for the blades of whalebone with which the jaws are 

 furnished in place of teeth. These blades of whalebone 

 number about 380, and range, in length from 8 ft. to, 

 in exceptional cases, 12 ft. They are suspended in the 

 mouth of the whale like stalactites, set fairly close 

 together, and, since the edges of each blade are fringed 

 with fine whalebone, the whole arrangement forms a 

 very efficient strainer. This enables the whale to feed 

 upon the plankton or " krill," as it is called by the 

 whalers and small fish, e.g. herring and capelan. The 

 whale fills his enormous cavern of a mouth with water 

 containing the floating food particles, and then, by 

 raising his tongue, slowly expels the water through the 

 whalebone sieve. The food particles are retained by the 

 whalebone, and are then licked off and swallowed. 



The Greenland whale inhabits the Arctic seas north of 

 latitude 54N. A closely related variety, the Bowhead 

 whale, forms the basis of a fishery in the Behring Sea. 



The largest whales known are the so-called Rorqual 

 whales. The name of these whales is derived from the 

 large number of longitudinal folds or pleatings that 

 form a characteristic feature of their throat. Rorqual 

 whales attain a length of from 80 to 85 ft. The head is 

 relatively small, and the long, slender body carries a 

 distinct dorsal fin. The whalebone is coarse and short. 

 The Rorqual whales are the most abundant and widely 

 distributed of all whales. They are found in all open 

 seas, with the exception of those in the extreme Arctic 

 and Antarctic regions. 



The Southern Right whale, or Black whale, is found 

 in the temperate seas of both Northern and Southern 

 hemispheres. 



Of the toothed whales, the most important is the 

 Cachalot or Sperm whale. It is chiefly captured in 



