INTRODUCTION 



the history of the animals, it also resulted in mul- 

 tiplying nominal species to such an extent that the 

 work of later investigators in separating the valid 

 from the invalid has become a herculean task; quite 

 false conclusions as to the distribution of the various 

 whales were also drawn, which only a vast amount of 

 labor and study can rectify. 



The number of whales taken during a season varies 

 greatly with the locality, but at one of the Vancouver 

 Island stations when I was there in 1908, three hun- 

 dred and twenty-five were killed in seven months by 

 one ship. In a single week twenty-six whales were 

 captured, and on June 10, the 6\ 5\ St. Lawrence, 

 Captain Larsen, brought in four humpbacks, one blue 

 whale, and one finback. 



\Yhales are such enormous creatures that the ordi- 

 nary methods used in the study of other animals can- 

 not be applied to them. Instead of having actual 

 specimens before one for comparison, a naturalist 

 must depend almost entirely upon photographs, notes, 

 measurements, and descriptions. 



Until shore whaling began such data were rare and 

 most unsatisfactory. When a whale is cut in as it 

 lies along the side of a ship, it is never possible to 

 see the entire animal at once ; it is almost impossible 

 to secure photographs of real value for comparative 

 work, and even measurements can be taken only with 

 difficulty and not without a large percentage of error. 

 Internal anatomical investigations are out of the ques- 

 tion, because as soon as the blubber has been stripped 

 off the carcass is turned adrift. 



19 



