790 MR. 1). C, lAUAK OS THE ANATOMY [^raV 24, 



of fill inlt't or l);iy iiliout sixty niiles north-west of lunislikea 

 within the 1000 fathom contour. He hunted this spot for three 

 weeks, always finding tlie whak^s tliere, and was still doins; so 

 when I left. I took an opj)oi-tunity of visiting the place with him 

 aV)out the middle of August and was impressed with the apparent 

 regularity in the hahits of the animals. Between daybreak and 

 10 A.M. they were to be seen swimming in this deep inlet and 

 blowing every ten minutes. After 10 a.m. they disappeared for 

 the rest of the day, but were all back again in the same place the 

 next inoi-ning. The captain always appeared on the ground at 

 daybreak, killed one or two and towed them home during the day, 

 returning to the locality over night. 



It is maintained by the whalers that the Btdcnnopiera .spend 

 several hours near the surface each day blowing every ten minutes 

 and storhig their l)lood and lungs with air, and that they then go 

 down and remain below for perhaps eight or twelve hours at a time. 

 They are said to avoid the heat of the day by remaining under 

 water duiiiig that period and appearing at the surface in the 

 early morning and evening. On dull cold days they may be at 

 the sui-face at any time during the day, though they are most 

 jilentiful at sunrise. Mr. Collett *" appears to haA'e been given 

 the same account by whalers. "J'ho explanation of these habits 

 attributed to the Bal(P)iop(era, if they re:Uly occur, may be the 

 rising and sinking of the })lankton eaten by the Crustaceans 

 which form the staple food of these w^hales. It is more likely 

 that the mid-day heat may have some efiect on the plankton, 

 and thus affect tlie whales indirectly, than that there should be 

 ;iiiy direct inlhionce, 



2. J)iruig I'mrers. 



I made enrpiiries of the whalers on this subject and I was told 

 tliat whales, when .struck by the harpoon, often dive to the bottom 

 and .sometimes come up with stones adhering to the ventral surface. 

 This, however, has been denied by other whalers. During my 

 visit I found on the under surface of one of the specimens of 

 Ji. muscidus landed at Innishki'a a few broken spines of Echino- 

 derms, which IlkI pierced the eiiidermis and were lying between 

 it and the coriniu. A harpooned whale is said to have come to 

 the surface Avith stones attached to its under surface when killed 

 at a locality where the depth was given as 100 fathoms on the 

 chai't. If a natuialist were to spend .sufficient time on board a 

 whaling steamer he could probalily settle this point, for the whales, 

 when dead, always turn o\er on their V)acks and float with the 

 A-ential surface uppermost, so there would be no difficulty in 

 detecting any adhering stones if they were present. Assuming 

 that a harpooned whale floes not act \'ery diflerently as regards 

 diving ]iowers to one under normal conditions, this would Vie a 

 sim|tlc iiH'tliod of ascertaining what tho.sc powers arc. Of com.se 



* (."..11. tt. Tn..-. Zonl. S..C. 1S8(!. !>. '203. 



