NOTES: ON: THREE 
NOTABLE NEW ZEALAND WHALES. 
By EDGAR R. WAITE, F.L.S., Curator.* 
Plates LIX.-LXITI. 
THE OKARITO WHALE 
(Balenoptera sibbaldi). 
Plates LSE Xt 
On February 17th, 1908, news was received in Christchurch 
that a huge whale 99 feet in length had been found lying dead on the 
ocean beach near Okarito, on the West Coast of the South Island. 
It was described as being so high that a man on horse-back could 
not see over it. Allowance being made for the usual exaggerated 
reports, it would still seem likely that the whale was a large one so 
accompanied by our taxidermist, I at once started for the scene. 
We arrived at Hokitika by the usual course, train and coach, but 
our subsequent experiences with horses, crossing rivers, swollen 
with heavy and continuous rain, need not be detailed. Havi ing 
negotiated the 83 miles from Hokitika, we arrived at Okarito on 
February 22nd, five days after the news was received. The 
whale was lying six and a-half miles to the northward of the town, 
near a promontory known as Commissioners’ Point, and by the time ! 
we arrived the body had flattened down considerably, so that it 
presented the appearance shown in the photograph (plate LX.). 
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, the precise figure obtained by Mr. J. W. Thomson, the 
harbour master, who had made a careful independent measurement. 
The dimension of 99 feet originally taken was measured over the 
curves of the back. It proved to be a cow whale and was lying on 
its back, parallel to the coast line and almost straight, so that in 
taking dimensions, no allowances had to be made. ‘The tail which 
was lying flat on the sand measured 21 feet across the flukes 
(plate LXI.). There was no difficulty in identifying the whale, 
the absence of teeth, the many grooves on throat and belly 
(plate LXI.) and the relatively small paddles coupled with the 
large size and elongate shape, at once fixed the species as the Blue 
Whale. The following additional notes are culled from an article 
written for the Weekly Press on my return :-— 
* Reprinted from ‘‘ Guide to the Whales and Dolphins of New Zealand.” 
