THE RORQUALS OR FIN WHALE 



50 feet in length, and the pectoral fins attain a 

 length of 14 feet. The female is always much larger 

 than the male. 



THE RORQUALS OR FIN WHALE 



THE Rorquals or Fin Whale (Balcenoptera) differs 

 from the Hump-back by reason of its long and slender 

 body, flatter and smaller head, and comparative 

 shortness of the flippers which are pointed and 

 narrow. The whalebone is also shorter and coarser- 

 than that of the Hump-back. The Rorquals is more 

 widely distributed over the oceans of the world 

 than any other species of whale. They inhabit 

 the oceans off the coast of South Africa, but do 

 not extend to the Antarctic seas. They were not 

 molested by man in the past because of their com- 

 paratively small yield of blubber and inferior 

 whalebone. Owing, however, to the increasing 

 scarcity of whales, and the improved methods of 

 killing whales, they are now being hunted and 

 destroyed in large numbers. There are several 

 species of Rorquals, and they range from 30 feet 

 in length in Bal&noptera acuto-ro strata to 85 feet 

 in Sibald's Whale (Baltenoptera sibbaldi). 



The fossil remains of several species of Rorquals 

 have been found in the Pliocene deposits of Belgium 

 and the east coast of England. 



213 



