1909. WHALE BALAINA GLACTALIS, 95 
The white-coloured belly occurred in both males and females. 
Of the 6 specimens captured in 1906, one adult specimen and 
one young one were white-bellied. Out of the 24 captured in 
1907, six specimens, or one fourth of the whole number, were 
white-bellied. Of the 20 specimens captured in 1908, only two 
were white-bellied (one male and one female). Thus 20 per 
cent. of the 50 specimens captured in the course of the last 
three year's have been white-bellied. 
None of the five specimens caught in 1908 off Iveland was 
white-bellied. The specimens were of both sexes, and the largest 
measured about 50 feet in length. 
In the black colour on the belly in most, though not all, of 
the specimens, a large number of white stripes occurred, running 
in all directions, and measuring up to one metre in length and 
about 50 mm. wide. It is possible that these stripes may have 
been produced by the rubbing of the animal against the bottom 
when following the plankton-crustaceans upon which it feeds, 
and that they are of the same origin as those described in certain 
old specimens of Mesoplodon bidens and others. 
The pectorals were black on the whole, both in the black- and 
in the white-bellied specimens, though often with a faint white 
marbling on the upper surface and the margin. 
The baleen is black, both in the white-bellied specimens and 
in the black, though in some specimens a few of the foremost 
plates were white. 
The number of plates was stated to be about 250 on each 
side. The bristles were also all black, and almost as fine as 
silk. One of the longest plates, which was presented to the 
Christiania Museum, measured 2225 mm. in length; the bristles 
were longest at the tip, where their length was 450 mm., but 
elsewhere measured about 250 mm. The longest plate that has 
been measured (Iceland 1903) had a length of 2700 mm. 
The peculiar wart-like excrescences are situated in irregular 
rows along the upper and lower mandibles. The largest of 
these, as in B. australis*, are at the tip of the upper jaw, where 
several sometimes join, and together form the largest ‘bonnet ”- 
then one on each side of the tip of the lower mandible, and 
finally one immediately above each eye. 
The value of a Nordkaper at the present time is from about 
6000 to 10,000 kroner (£330 to £550). The blubber, which 
in some specimens is of a pale pink colour, has a thickness of 
about 260 mm. The amount of oil it contains varies from 10 to 
30 barrels (of the first quality). 
In the two young specimens mentioned above as captured in 
1907, the blubber was pure white; the animals were exceedingly 
fat, and yielded about 30 barrels of oil each. 
The weight of baleen in a full-grown specimen is from 250 
* Lénnberg, Kgl. Sv. Vetensk.-Akad. Handl. B. 40, no. 5, p. 45 (Oct. 11, 1906). 
