668 MR. J. A. MORCH ON 



supposed then to feed on caplin and to follow the schools of these 

 fishes near the " East Ice " and move westwards with them during 

 the winter. Those killed on the westward trek have been found 

 to have empty stomachs. 



On account of the tough outer skins of the Humpback, parasites 

 can easily fasten themselves thereto, and this species is, as a matter 

 of fact, especially infested by various forms : — Goronula diadema, 

 Conchoderma auritum, and Paracyamus boopis. Pennella is rarely 

 found. 



RudolpMs Whales (B. horealis) are very erratic in their 

 appearances. In 1884, for instance, only six were killed on the 

 Finmark coast; in 1885, 659. This is a typical plankton Whale, 

 and it appears on that coast only during the summer, feeding on 

 Calamis &c. The foetuses have a length of fi-om 3 to 4 feet in 

 June, from which it may be inferred that the cows give birth to 

 their young during the latter months of the year in localities 

 at present unknown. 



In Shetland in 1906 I observed on a Rudolphi's Whale, which 

 had the front end of its lower jaw deformed, a colony of Concho- 

 derma auritum fastened thereto. This is the only instance of 

 parasites on this species that I know of. 



Plankton being the only or principal subsistence for the Whales 

 in question, an exceedingly interesting problem is suggested : — 

 What part do the great ocean currents play as highways and 

 feeding grounds for these Whales during their annual migratory 

 route ? 



From investigations carried on by Pr-of. Nansen and his 

 assistants it has been proved that the cold polar water has a 

 beneficial efiect upon the vegetable life in the open sea. The 

 cold polar currents, by mixing with waters of a higher temperature, 

 create favourable conditions for the growth of plankton and 

 higher marine life. 



From these investigations, then, we may infer that it is along 

 the border layers of the great polar currents where these meet 

 and intermingle with warmer currents or waters that, given a 

 sufficient actinity of light for the production of vegetable plankton, 

 we may expect to find the most favourable conditions for the 

 subsistence of the plankton Whales. 



We know from our northern latitudes that the waters 

 along the northern coast of Iceland, Finmark, and along the 

 western coast of Spitzbergen have attracted and been able to 

 maintain for a long series of years a considerable or even a vei-y 

 great number of Whales. 



On the contrary, -v^e have seen that in localities which are under 

 the principal influence of a cold polar current — for instance, the 

 coast of Newfoundland — the stock of Whales has in the course 

 of only a very limited number of years been seriously reduced, 

 although the number of whaling steamei^s employed would not 

 have been excessive had the same favourable conditions in the sea 

 prevailed as, for instance, along the northern coast of Iceland. 



