30 E. LÖNNBERG, CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FAUNA OF SOUTH GEORGIA. 



But the whales which the experienced whaler Captain A. Larsen saw during 

 his cruise with »Jason» 1893 and termed »Finnwal» were no doubt of the B. phy- 

 salus (Lin.) type. 



While Sörling staid at the whaling station about a dozen or a few more Fin- 

 backs were killed and brought to the factory. The reason why the number was not 

 greater lies thereiti that the hunt of this species is even more difficult and less pro- 

 fitablc than that of the Blne whale, not to talk about the Humpback and Kight 

 whales, the whalers favourites. 



The average length of these Finbacks was about 60 feet. They were shiny 

 black above and white below (Pl. V fig. 18, 21 & 22). The tip of the pectoral fin 

 was greyish white, otherwise the outside of the flipper was black and the inside 

 white. The skin in the furrows is pink or light red. The flukes are also white on 

 the under side (Pl. V fig. 23). 



Sörling did not observe any such »pleuronectism» as makes itself known in 

 the northern Finback, that is, that the light colour extends higher up on one side 

 than on the other. All the photos show the left side of the whale and there, at 

 least, the black colour extends to the mandible (comp. Pl. V fig. 18 & 22). 



The colour of the baleen is very irregular. Sometimes all the blades are party - 

 coloured, striped with slaty blackish and slaty bluish grey and yellowish white. Some- 

 times some of the anterior small blades are uniformly yellowish white either on one 

 (just as well left as right) or on both sides of the upper jaw. Sometimes the posterior 

 small blades, as well, are entirely yellowish white, either on one (just as leave left as 

 right) or on both sides of the mouth. The only constancy is that the large blades in 

 the middle of the series always are striped blackish, slaty bluish grey and yellowish 

 white. The colours are in the latter case usually distributed in such a way that 

 the lateral margin of the blades always is darkest, almost black över a more or less 

 broad area, then follow in an inward clirection with regard to their width irregular 

 stripes of lighter and darker colour (Pl. VIII fig. 37). The light colour is usnally 

 represented by a light slaty bluish grey, sometimes in the medium sized and small 

 blades also by yellowish white. The bristles are at the lateral margin of the large 

 blades, and corresponding to the black stripes there, almost black, or dark brown; 

 in an inward direction the colour fades and the bristles become paler, from light 

 brown to dirty white. As a rule, the bristles at the end of a light streak are con- 

 spicuously paler than those corresponding to a dark streak, but the limits between 

 the colours of the matted bristles are not so sharp as those on the blade itself. On 

 the smaller blades the bristles are paler and may be light brown or brownish white 

 even at the exteriör margin which corresponds to a slaty black streak. Onthe 

 interiör portion of such smaller blades the bristles are often uniformly whitish in 

 spite of the slaty streaks of the blade itself. 



The bristles are much coarser on the large blades than on the small, and on 

 the former those of the exteriör portion are very much thicker and coarser than the 

 interiör ones of the same blade. In the specimen particularly described here, Sör- 

 ling counted about 432 blades of baleen on either side of the upper jaw. 



