146 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE.—1914, 
during the later part in a south-westerly. If this be so, it may be 
concluded that the latter is the return journey of those whales which 
have passed north in the beginning of the season. 
_ The solitary Humpback, taken on July 25, was moving in a direc- 
tion the reverse of that which the Finners and Blue Whales were 
pursuing at the same time. 
The only Sejhval which was captured was brought in on Septem- 
ber 6, a fact which is to be noted in connection with the whalers’ 
statement to Burfield,!’? that the Sejhval disappears by the end of June. 
The following is the explanation which the whalers give of 
the occurrence of Sperm Whales in these Northern waters. In the 
Southern seas each adult male is the leader of a herd of females, and 
as the young bulls approach maturity they are driven off by the old 
leader. These young bulls do not become leaders of herds, as they are 
inferior in strength and size to the fully adult males. But when fully 
grown they seek out herds, and contend with the leaders for the 
possession of the females. If the old males are then driven off, they 
become solitary wanderers, and frequently travel up into the North 
Atlantic. In connection with this theory it may be mentioned that 
the Sperm Whales taken at Blacksod and Inishkea are all males, and 
of great size for Sperm Whales, which seldom exceed 60 ft., the 
‘average for the ten Blacksod specimens being 57 {t. 34 in., while 
the smallest was 53 ft. 
TaBLE I.—B. musculus. ‘Table of Specimens Taken. 
Number | Date when Sox Total Kwumber Date when Sox Total 
of Whale] Measured ; Length || of Whale] Measured Length 
Ft. in, Ft. in. 
— May 16 — 59 6) 14 July 5 12) 54 7 
= “P28 — 62 6] 18 5- il fe) 59 4 
— » ol — 59 6 | 19 Ae! 15) oe) 67 63 
== June 14 — 61 6|| 20 53 LS 3 59 3 
= » 19 — 6L 0 || 4.22 » 20 9 48 7 
— > 20 — 53 0} 24 Pree’) 2 SBI ay 
= sue — 68 6 || 27 97 ~25 3 66 «0 | 
<== Py — 61 6) 29 Aug. 5 2 57. 5 
= me — 64 6 30 re 7 oe) 69 #8 
— seu ae — 64 6 | 31 ae oad Q 65 60 
— ~ eee) — 64 6 32 <5 OG 3 yi a 
1 » 26 Q 69 4 35 7 BT Q 63 3 
2 > 26 fe) 50 (67 36 BwiBsLhp. se 58 «5 
3 3 28 3 64 1] 387 55 29 Q 62° 3 
4 Paes) é 63 «1 38 a 29 Q Dar 2 
5 oO é 64 O 39 » 30 3 58 3 
6 9 30 ce) 66 9) £40 » 30 | 2 60 8 
7 July 2 3 61 0O 41 Sept. 1 | 3 56 2 
8 eee: & 62 0 42 Sh Acoiaass 61 6 
9 wie 3 60 0 43 ere! fe) 59 10 
10 es é Stay Ps 44 a 3 52 10 
11 ten) 3 58 1 45 x OD 3 58 0 
12 »» ont 3 55 =O 47 pes a Sl ce) 62 8 
13 » «4 é 46 7 48 vias 3 638 5 
1” Op. cit., p. 154. 
