WHALE HUNTING WITH GUN AND CAMERA 



measured two blue whales 85 feet long but individuals 

 of this size are rare. 



All the gunners who have hunted in the South At- 

 lantic or Pacific tell remarkable tales of the enormous 

 blue whales killed off Kerguelen and South Georgia 

 Islands. I have no doubt that this species reaches 



An eighty-two foot blue whale at Vancouver Island. The mouth 

 is about nineteen feet in length, and the outer edges of the 

 baleen plates are well shown. 



90 or possibly 95 feet, but the stories of 115- and 120- 

 foot whales are certainly myths. As Dr. Lucas aptly 

 says, "All whales shrink under the tape measure." 



Undoubtedly the principal reason why whales are 

 able to attain such an enormous size is because their 

 bodies are supported by the water in which they live. 



142 



