WHALEBONE WHALES. 17 



Habits ^ regards the habits of the humpback, Captain Scammon states 



that this whale generally prefers " to feed and perform its uncouth 

 gambols near extensive coasts or about the shores of islands, in all latitudes between 

 the Equator and the frozen oceans, both north and south. It is irregular in its 

 movements, seldom going a straight course for any considerable distance ; at one 

 time moving about in large numbers, scattered over the sea as far as the eye can 

 discern from the masthead, at other times singly, seeming as much at home as if it 

 were surrounded by hundreds of its kind, performing at will the varied actions of 

 'breaching/ 'rolling,' 'finning,' 'lob-tailing,' or 'scooping,' or, on a calm sunny 

 day, perhaps lying motionless on the molten-looking surface, as though life were 

 extinct." On the coasts of Norway, although generally found in small numbers, 

 Mr. Collett states that it is occasionally very numerous so much so that in one 

 instance a steamer had to exercise great care in steering, in order to avoid coming 

 into collision with these whales. They were met with in great profusion by Captain 

 Gray in 1880 to the north of Ireland, accompanied by numbers of the lesser fin- 

 whales. Two young are frequently produced at a birth. 



The amount of oil yielded by a humpback is very variable, a 



female with a large young one having scarcely any blubber. Captain 



Scammon states that he has known the amount of oil taken from some individuals 



not to exceed eight or ten barrels, while in others the yield has been as much as 



seventy-five. 



FIN-WHALES, OR RORQUALS. 

 Genus Balcenoptera. 



The remaining living representatives of the whalebone whales are known as 

 fin-whales, or rorquals, or sometimes fin-backs or razor-backs, and include four 

 well-defined species. These whales are distinguished from the humpback by their 

 more elongated and slender form and proportionately smaller head, which measures 

 from one-fifth to one-fourth the total length, and also by the comparative shortness 

 of their flippers. The latter are narrow and pointed, and vary from one-seventh to 

 one-eleventh of the total length. The small and recurved back-fin is placed about 

 two-thirds of the distance from the head to the flukes, and the latter are smaller 

 than in the humpback. The whalebone is short and coarse, and the lateral line of 

 the mouth is consequently nearly straight, and does not rise above the level of 

 the eye. 



Fin-whales are the most common and widely distributed of all the larger 

 Cetaceans, and are far more active and speedy in their movements than right- 

 whales ; and since their yield of blubber is relatively small, while the shortness and 

 inferior quality of their whalebone renders it of much less value than that of the 

 right-whales, they were formerly but little molested by whalers. The yearly 

 increasing scarcity of the Greenland whale, and the enormous advance in the price 

 of whalebone, coupled with the invention of harpoon -guns, which renders the 

 capture of these animals far less difficult than in the old days, have, however, led 

 to both humpbacks and finners being regularly hunted. Fin-whales are found in 

 nearly all seas except those of the Antarctic regions, and the four well-defined 



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