CHAPTER II. 

 THE FINBACK WHALE. 



Bal^nopteka velifera, Cope. (Plate ii, fig. 2.) 



Another species of the whale tribe is known as the Finback, or Finner, whose 

 geographical distribution is as extended as that of the Sulphurbottom, and which 

 ranks next to it in point of swiftness. 



One picked up by Captain Poole, of the bark Sarah Warren, of San Francisco, 

 affords us the following memoranda: Length, sixty -five feet; thickness of blubber, 

 seven to nine inches; yield of oil, seventy-five barrels; color of blubber, a clear 

 white. Top of head quite as flat and straight as that of the Humpback. Baleen, 

 the longest, two feet four inches ; greatest width, thirteen inches ; its color, a light 

 lead, streaked with black, and its surface presents a ridgy appearance crosswise ; 

 length of fringe to bone, two to four inches, and in size this may be compared to 

 a cambric needle. 



A Bakenojjtera, which came on shore near the outer heads of the Golden Gate, 

 gave us the opportunity of obtaining the following rough measurements : 



Ft. In. 



Length GO 00 



From nib -end to pectorals 1.5 00 



Prom nib -end to corner of mouth 12 00 



From nib - end to eye 12 06 



From notch of caudal fin to genital slit 21 00 



From notch of caudal fin to vent 19 OG 



Expansion of caudal fin 14 00 



Its side fins and flukes are in like proportion to the body as in the California 

 Gray. Its throat and breast are marked with deep creases, or folds, similar to the 

 Humpback. Color of back and sides, black or blackish -brown (in some individ- 

 uals a curved band of lighter shade marks its upper sides, between the spiracles 

 and pectorals) ; belly, a milky white. Its back fin is placed nearer to the caudal 

 than the hump on the Humpback, and iu shape approaches to a right-angled 



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