BALA NIDZ 243 
have the plicated skin of the throat like that of Meguptera, the 
furrows being more numerous and close set; but the pectoral 
fin is comparatively 
small, the dorsal fin 
distinct and falcate, 
and the tail very 
much compressed 
before it expands 
into the “flukes.” 
The Rorquals are 
perhaps the most 
abundant and widely 
distributed of all the 
whales, being found 
in some of their 
modifications in all 
seas, except the ex- 
treme Arctic, and 
probably Antarctic 
regions. Owing to 
the small quantity 
and inferior quality 
of their whalebone, 
the comparatively 
limited amount of 
blubber, and their 
great activity and 
the difficulty of cap- B 
turing them by the Fic. 81.—The right tympanic of Balenoptera musculus from 
the inner (A) and outer (B) aspects. natural size. (F th 
old methods, these 5,,, Lah cae ere a ar 
Whales were not 
until recently an object of pursuit by whale-fishers; but, since the in- 
troduction of steam-vessels, and especially of explosive harpoons fired 
from guns in the place of those hurled by the human hand, a regular 
fishery has been established on the coast of Finmark, There are four 
distinct species of this genus in British seas. (1) Balwnoptera sib- 
baldi, the “Blue Whale,” the largest of all known animals, attains a 
length of 80 or even sometimes 85 feet. Its colour is dark bluish 
gray, with small whitish spots on the breast ; the baleen is black ; 
the flippers are larger proportionally than in other Rorquals, 
measuring one-seventh of the total length of the body; and the dorsal 
fin is small and placed very far back. This Whale has usually 64 
vertebree, of which 16 bear ribs. Like the others of the genus, this 
species seems to pass the winter in the open seas, and approaches the 
coast of Norway at the end of April or beginning of May. At this 
time its sole food is a small crustacean (Zuphwusia inermis) which 
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