BAL^NllJ^ 23 



"The length of the individual captured in Admii-alty inlet 

 was twenty-seven feet. When compared with other Balsenidce 

 it was SO' small that we were skeptical whether it was an adult or 

 not, but, upon making an examination a, well developed foetus 

 was found in it, five and one half feet long, which dispelled all 

 doubts as to its maturity. 



"The principal distinguishing features of this whale are its 

 dwarfish size; its pointed head, which in form resembles a beak; 

 its low, falcated dorsal fin, which is placed about two-thirds the 

 length O'f the animal from the anterior extremity of its lower 

 jaw, which is the longest; and its inordinately small, pointed pec- 

 torals, which are marked with a white band above and near their 

 bases, and are placed about one-third the animal's length from its 

 anterior extremity. The bone, or baleen, in its natural state is of 

 a pure white, with a short, thin fringe of the same color. The 

 number of la.minae on each side of the mouth was two hundred 

 and seventy, and the longest of these measured ten inches. The 

 surface of the animal was a dull black above, white below. The 

 under side of both pectoral and caudal fins was white also. 



"Seventy longitudinal folds extended along the throat and' 

 lower portion of the body, between and a little behind the fins, 

 and while the outer surface of the folds was of a milky white- 

 ness, the creases between them! were of a pinkish cast, imparting 

 the same shade to the throat as far back as the pectorals. The 

 coating of yellowish fat that encased the body averaged three 

 inches in thickness, and the yield of oil was about three hundred 

 gallons. 



"The habits of this whale are in many respects like those of 

 the Finback. It frequently gambols about vessels while under 

 way, darting from^ one side to the other beneath their bottoms. 

 When coming to the surface it makes a quick, faint spout, such 

 as would be made by a suckling of o^ne of the larger cetaceans; 

 which plainly accounts for whalemen taking it for the young 

 of more bulky species." (Scammon). 



