MODERN FIN-WHALING 171 



manceuvring, has been unable to obtain a shot, the whale 

 never once rising within proper distance of the firing circle. 

 When feeding, the Finback turns on its side, gives a " start " 

 forward, and erects the pectoral. As it rolls slowly over, it 

 also shows the whole of one side of the tail. About six to 

 ten feet below the surface it opens its enormous mouth, and 

 closes it slowly, to take in vast numbers of " kril." As the 

 mouth shuts one sees a white stream of water rushing from the 

 outer sides of the baleen plates. The whale opens and shuts 

 its mouth several times before coming to the surface. In 

 the vicinity of the feeding operations the sea is suffused with a 

 mass of oily matter, in which numerous small marine creatures, 

 too small for the eye of man to see, are present. On these 

 descend swarms of kittiwakes, Leach's petrels, and Manx 

 greater and dusky shearwaters, which are for ever scouring 

 the seas on the look-out for such provender. Finbacks some- 

 times associate in scattered parties, or even in one great herd, 

 the individual members of which keep at a considerable distance 

 from one another. Often they are met with singly, or in family 

 parties consisting of the bull, cow, and calf of the previous 

 year. Off the coast of Shetland they are usually found from 

 thirty to ninety miles distance in 120 fathoms of water (Foden), 

 but are sometimes seen within a mile of the land. Like the 

 Blue Whale and some of the dolphins, they seem fond of the 

 company of large vessels, and will play round these without 

 alarm. 



The food consists of a few herrings, caplin, Mallottis 

 arcticus, white fish, small squid, and various crustaceans. It 

 is the general opinion of the whalers that this species only 

 eats herrings when crustaceans are unobtainable. Very few 

 Finbacks have been obtained in Shetland whose mouths or 

 stomachs contained herrings, but one was taken at the 



