36 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



Antarctic waters was almost entirely dependent on 

 the Humpback. Here the plankton on which this 

 whale feeds begins to become abundant in Novem- 

 ber, and this food is carried by the currents towards 

 the coast of the great South Polar Island groups. 

 The Humpback now puts in an appearance, being 

 at first in poor condition, but as the summer 

 advances it rapidly gets fatter, being at its best from 

 February to April. With the approach of the 

 southern winter the Humpback moves north into 

 warmer waters where the young are born and pair- 

 ing takes place. The females captured off South 

 Georgia and the South Shetlands in summer are 

 nearly all pregnant. In its northern migration the 

 Humpback approaches the coasts of the continents 

 where it is found from the middle of May, or even 

 earlier, off South America and Africa. The migra- 

 tion lasts till the end of July, the Humpback even 

 going north of the Equator. 



The large proportion of Humpbacks captured by 

 whalers off the Natal coast is referred to below 

 (p. 295). Towards the end of August the south- 

 ward migration along these coasts begins, and this 

 lasts until November; the females now being 

 accompanied by their young. Similar migration 

 takes place in the Pacific on both sides of the 

 Equator. Off the African coast the birth of the 

 young Humpbacks takes place in the warm 

 Mozambique current. According to Olsen, the first 

 Humpbacks arrive at the breeding-places off Portu- 

 guese West and East Africa at the beginning of 



