158 Records oi- the S.A. Museum 



fre(|uently yieldt-d to. l^\en Mr. Lucas with his data in hand evidently feU 

 that in describing the length ui the Okaritu whale as 87 feet I had measured 

 along the cur^•es or had taped the mounted skeleton. In the "(iuide Book" '"", 

 portion of which was re])rinted (5) , T was careful to explain the method of 

 taking the measurements, writing: — "in order to ascertain the length of the 

 carcase a stake was placed in the sand at the end of the snout and another in 

 the notch of the tail, and the distance between them showed the animal to be 

 87 feet in length." I have thought it well to emphasize this statement so 

 that there may be no supposition, suggestion, or misunderstanding as to the 

 length of the Okarito whale in the future. The skeleton, as mounted, is 

 possibly somewdiat longer than the figure supplied for the carcase ; I hav;- 

 nf)t measured it, l)ut this does not affect the size of the animal as it was in the 

 flesh. 



No reply other than that h}- Mr. Lucas was elicited. I have not seen any 

 authoritative reference to the whale indicated in the following paragraph, 

 published in 1913 : "A 'blue' whale, 90 feet long, was recently captured ofif 

 Mossel Bay (Cape Colony V The carcase is expected to yield al)out seventy 

 barrels of oil (6) ." 



Dr. F. W. True (7) discusses very fully the various records of the size of 

 large examples of this species, and setting aside those that are obviously 

 erroneous, he considers that the records of Norwegian specimens by Prof. 

 Aurivillius and Drs. Forstand and Finsch represent the maxima. These 

 measurements, however, he regards as approximate only, as it is not definitely 

 stated whether they are from the tip of the upper or lower jaw, from the notch 

 or the border of the flukes, along the curves or in straight lines. As far as I 

 am aware, also, the skeletons of these specimens have not been preserved. 



Dr. Harmer ( "^ ) evidently still belie\-es in the 100-foot whale, writing: — 

 "The blue whale, probably the largest animal that has ever existed, is sometimes 

 more than 100 ft. long." 



The name generally associated with the blue whale is Balaciioptcra sibbaldii 

 Ciray, 1847, but True (^) maintains that Balacna muscithis Linnaeus, 1758, is 

 the blue whale, the name of which should therefore stand as Balacnoptera 

 musculus. 



(4) Waite, Guide to "Whales and Dolphins of New Zealand, 1912. 



(5) Id.. Rec. Cant. Mus. i, 1912, p. 323, pis. lix-lxi. 



(6) Empire Magazine, Aug., 1913, p. 53. 



(7) True, Smiths. Contrib., xxxiii,"1904, p. 152, 



(8) Harmer, Nature, June 12, 1919, p. 294. 



(9) True, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., xxi, 1?99, p. 629. 



