﻿64 
  

  

  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST, 
  

  

  middle 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  month 
  Notre 
  Dame 
  or 
  Green 
  Bay 
  is 
  resorted 
  

   to 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  "Humpbacked" 
  (Megaptera 
  longimana?) 
  and 
  

   "Finwhales" 
  (Bakenoptera 
  mwsculus 
  ?). 
  About 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  

   October 
  these 
  Whales 
  become 
  scarce, 
  and 
  finally 
  leave 
  the 
  coast. 
  

   The 
  following 
  figures, 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  Eeport 
  of 
  the 
  Newfound- 
  

   land 
  Financial 
  Minister's 
  Budget 
  speech 
  of 
  1903, 
  show 
  the 
  value 
  

   of 
  the 
  oil 
  and 
  bone 
  produced 
  in 
  each 
  season 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  Years. 
  

  

  Tuns 
  of 
  Oil. 
  

  

  Value 
  of 
  Oil. 
  

  

  Value 
  of 
  Bone. 
  

  

  1897-8 
  . 
  

  

  27 
  .. 
  

  

  1,340 
  dols. 
  . 
  

  

  241 
  dols 
  

  

  1898-9 
  . 
  

  

  211 
  ... 
  

  

  14,439 
  „ 
  

  

  .. 
  1,089 
  „ 
  

  

  1899-0 
  . 
  

  

  430 
  ... 
  

  

  34,604 
  „ 
  

  

  .. 
  1,814 
  „ 
  

  

  1900-1 
  . 
  

  

  635 
  ... 
  

  

  54,221 
  „ 
  

  

  .. 
  13,550 
  „ 
  

  

  1901-2 
  . 
  

  

  . 
  1,275 
  ... 
  

  

  112,859 
  „ 
  

  

  .. 
  12,285 
  „ 
  

  

  Of 
  course 
  the 
  bone 
  is 
  short 
  and 
  of 
  very 
  inferior 
  quality. 
  

  

  The 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  Finwhale 
  fishery 
  from 
  the 
  Norwegian 
  ports 
  

   has 
  fallen 
  off 
  from 
  1,320,600 
  kroner 
  in 
  1897 
  to 
  498,000 
  kroner 
  

   in 
  1900, 
  and 
  great 
  complaints 
  have 
  arisen 
  from 
  the 
  fishermen 
  as 
  

   to 
  the 
  disturbance 
  produced 
  in 
  their 
  fisheries 
  by 
  the 
  operations 
  

   of 
  the 
  whalers. 
  The 
  Parliament 
  therefore, 
  after 
  due 
  inquiries, 
  

   has 
  forbidden 
  whaling 
  along 
  the 
  Norwegian 
  arctic 
  coast 
  within 
  

   seven 
  kilometres 
  from 
  the 
  land 
  for 
  ten 
  years 
  from 
  February 
  

   next. 
  Probably 
  owing 
  to 
  scarcity 
  of 
  the 
  Whales, 
  and 
  certain 
  

   restrictions 
  already 
  in 
  force, 
  establishments 
  were 
  extended 
  first 
  

   to 
  Iceland, 
  then 
  to 
  the 
  Faroes, 
  and 
  lastly 
  to 
  Shetland, 
  where 
  two 
  

   stations 
  have 
  been 
  established 
  by 
  Norwegian 
  companies 
  at 
  the 
  

   head 
  of 
  Bonas 
  Voe, 
  and 
  a 
  new 
  station 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  opened 
  in 
  the 
  

   coming 
  season 
  at 
  Collafirth. 
  Last 
  year 
  the 
  two 
  Bonas 
  Voe 
  

   companies 
  killed 
  126 
  Whales 
  in 
  all. 
  A 
  writer 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  Shetland 
  

   News 
  ' 
  states 
  that 
  in 
  1902 
  the 
  united 
  Norwegian 
  fleets 
  of 
  about 
  

   fifty-seven 
  vessels 
  accounted 
  for 
  nearly 
  2500 
  of 
  these 
  Whales. 
  It 
  

   does 
  not 
  seem 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  these 
  animals 
  will 
  long 
  

   sustain 
  such 
  a 
  strain 
  ; 
  they 
  will 
  surely 
  soon 
  be 
  killed 
  out, 
  or 
  

   desert 
  the 
  seas 
  where 
  they 
  meet 
  with 
  such 
  persecution, 
  and 
  this, 
  

   in 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  complaints 
  raised 
  by 
  the 
  fishermen, 
  must 
  

   render 
  any 
  extension 
  of 
  the 
  industry 
  very 
  precarious. 
  

  

  A 
  feature 
  in 
  the 
  year's 
  record 
  of 
  things 
  cetacean 
  has 
  been 
  the 
  

   appearance 
  of 
  a 
  considerable 
  " 
  school 
  " 
  of 
  Sperm-Whales 
  in 
  the 
  

   North 
  Atlantic. 
  In 
  August, 
  1901, 
  a 
  male 
  61 
  ft. 
  long 
  was 
  found 
  

   dead, 
  and 
  towed 
  into 
  Bonas 
  Voe 
  ; 
  but 
  on 
  the 
  26th 
  June 
  last 
  the 
  

  

  