24 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



One of the most important whales to the earliest 

 northern whalers was the Polar or Greenland, or 

 Right Whale, the Bowhead of the Americans 

 (Balcena mysticetus). This whale appears to make 

 regular seasonal migrations. In summer it is found 

 in the farthest northern waters, e.g., in 75 to 

 78 N. Latitude in Baffin Bay. In winter it 

 migrates farther south, being found as low as 65 

 N. Latitude on the east side of Greenland, or even 

 in 58 N. on the west side. It frequents the water 

 between the ice-floes where abundant Pteropoda 

 (Clio borealis) and Entomostraca are met with. 

 Although it is found in more open water in summer 

 it never moves far from the ice. 



In former times, as will be seen from the sequel 

 (Chapter III) this whale was very abundant off 

 Spitsbergen. According to Martens, it was found in 

 spring in the west near Jan Mayen and Greenland, 

 but in summer in open water east of Spitsbergen. 



It is doubtful whether the Greenland Right 

 Whale was found off the northern Norwegian coast 

 in earlier historical times. At any rate the earliest 

 whalers, who probably fished in these waters, 

 distinguished between this whale and the " Nord- 

 caper." The Greenland Right Whale is not found 

 now in Scandinavian waters, though the balance of 

 evidence is that it was so found in the seventeenth 

 century, at any rate in severe winters. 



A true migration of the Greenland Right Whale 

 is mentioned by Brown (1875) who describes 

 hundreds as moving together from Paul's Bay 



