THE RIGHT WHALE AND BOWHEAD 



The bowhead is appropriately named because the 

 fore part of the head is arched in almost a half-circle 

 to make room for the enormous baleen which hangs 

 in the mouth. This sometimes reaches a length of 

 fourteen feet, and is so exceedingly fine and elastic 



A small (calf) right whale on the beach at Amagansett, L. I. 

 Note that no dorsal fin is present in this species. 



that until recent years it often sold for $4 or $5 per 

 pound. 



Since an average sized bowhead yields 2,000 

 pounds l of baleen, a single animal was thus worth 

 $8,000 or $10,000, and if a ship took two or three 

 whales each season a profitable voyage was insured. 



1 A large whale sometimes yields 3000 pounds. 



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