THE PLAYFUL HUMPBACK 



possible to state with certainty many facts upon this 

 subject. Probably the period of gestation in the 

 humpback is about one year and the calves are from 

 fourteen to sixteen feet long when born. On June 

 1 6, 1908, at Sechart, a young humpback was killed 



A humpback partly in the water at the station in North Japan. 

 The whale is lying on its side with the breast and flipper 

 showing. 



with its mother. The calf had nothing but milk in 

 its stomach and milk was flowing from both teats of 

 the parent. I estimated that this baby humpback was 

 about three months old and since birth had probably 

 almost doubled its length. 



Although all the fin whales probably mate chiefly 

 in the early spring, nevertheless pairing is deferred 



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