WHALE HUNTING WITH GUN AND CAMERA 



Although the baleen of the smaller right whale is 

 of excellent quality, it seldom exceeds nine feet in 

 length and consequently this species is not so valuable 

 as its Arctic relative. 



Whalebone is used principally in corsets, dress stays, 

 whips, and other articles where strength and elasticity 

 are required, but a few years ago several substitutes, 

 such as "featherbone," "near-bone," etc., were per- 

 fected; since some of these proved fully as good as, 

 and were very much cheaper than, baleen, it was no 

 longer profitable to outfit expensive vessels and Arctic 

 whaling abruptly ended. 



Both the bowhead and right whale live upon minute 

 crustaceans, called "brit," which are strained out by 

 means of the mat of bristles on the inner side of the 

 baleen plates; when the mouth is closed the whale- 

 bone folds back on both sides of the tongue, but 

 straightens out again as the great lower jaw is 

 dropped. 



On the extreme end of the snout the right whale 

 always has an oval roughened area, some two feet in 

 length, called the "bonnet." This growth is produced 

 by whale lice (Cyamus) and barnacles (Coronula), 

 and although it is never absent in this species it is not 

 found on the bowhead. Neither of these whales has 

 a dorsal fin or folds on the ventral surface of the body, 

 because their heads are so proportionately large that 

 it is not necessary to increase the throat and mouth 

 capacity by any external modifications. 



The right whale is found only in temperate waters 

 and does not go into the far north or south. It is 



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