WHALES, DOLPHINS, AND PORPOISES 



in British waters. This is one of the most valuable of all the species, 

 not only on account of the size and quality of the baleen, but also for 

 the rich supply of oil furnished by the blubber. For this reason it was 

 persistently hunted, after the discovery of its haunts, around the shores 

 of Spitzbergen, first by the EngHsh, assisted by Basque harpooners in 1611, 

 and later by other European nations. 



Besides being of superior value, the Greenland Whale was easier to 

 capture and kill than its near relation the Atlantic Right Whale of more 

 temperate seas, and this ultimately nearly led to the extinction of the 

 species. 



It is worth noting that, although the early whale hunters were well 

 aware of the distinctness of the two species, in later days when the Atlantic 

 Right Whale had almost disappeared in European waters, they were con- 

 fused and classed as the same animal. 



Even William Scoresby, a whaler of great experience, as well as a man 

 of high scientific attainments, who penetrated farther north than any of his 

 predecessors, never met with the more southern species, and did not believe 

 in its existence. His book on the Arctic Regions, published in 1820, 

 gives the best known account of the Greenland Whale fishing, and is 

 full of interesting facts. 



The Danish cetologists Eschricht and Reinhardt were the first in 

 modern times to point out the difference between the Greenland and 

 Atlantic Right Whales. The Right Whales were so named because they 

 were the most profitable kind to hunt on account of their valuable baleen 

 and large yield of oil, and they were also less difficult to kill than the 

 Rorquals and others. 



II. 57 



