14 



PAN-PACIFIC UNION BULLETIN 



feeding habits, migrations, breeding 

 seasons and places, period of gestation, 

 rate of growth, age at maturity, na- 

 tural and other enemies, — these are but 

 a few of the many things in the life 

 histories of these animals about which 

 little is known, but which we would 

 very much like to know. 



Take, for example, the whales. It 

 would seem that animals as big and 

 conspicuous any interesting as whales 

 ought to be pretty well known to the 

 naturalists at least, if not to the lay- 

 man ; but we really know very little 

 about them. We do not even know 

 what species occur on the Pacific 

 Coast of North America. A good il- 

 lustration of this incompleteness of 

 knowledge is the Sei whale or Japanese 

 Sardine whale. In his Monograph of 

 the Pacific Cetacea, Dr. Roy C. An- 

 drews said, in 1916 : "The occurrence 

 of this species in the North Pacific was 

 unknown to the scientific world until 

 my work in Japan during 1912." He 

 then found it the most abundant of the 

 large Cetaceans in Japanese waters 

 where it constitutes the greater part of 

 the summer fishery. While he believed 

 it should occur on the west coast of 

 North America, he knew of no trust- 

 worthy record and says that further 

 proof must be forthcoming before the 

 appearance of this species along the 

 west coast of America can be consid- 

 ered as established. 



Recently I was informed by Mr. A. 

 Gosney, Bookkeeper of the Moss Land- 

 ing Station of the California Sea Pro- 

 ducts Company, that the station at 

 Kyuquot, Vancouver Island, took 60 

 Sei whales in 1918, and that several 

 more were taken the same year by 

 other stations in British Columbia in 

 1918. Mr. Gosney was at these sta- 

 tions in 1918, is quite familiar with the 

 Sei whale, and is certain of the identi- 

 fication. And a 40-foot example of this 



species was taken off Santa Cruz by 

 the Moss Landing Station September 

 9, 1920. Mr. Gosney says the Sei most 

 resembles the Finback, from which it 

 is readily distinguished by the longer 

 dorsal fin; the hair inside the mouth is 

 soft, whitish and about nine inches 

 long, while in the Finback it is coarse, 

 dark gray and only about six inches 

 long. 



Mr. Gosn«y does not know of any 

 American record before 1918. Captain 

 Dedrick confirms Mr. Gosney's state- 

 ments. 



The commercial fisheries of the North 

 Pacific can be properly understood and 

 regulated only in the light of pretty 

 full knowledge of the Cetaceans and 

 seals of the various kinds. It is im- 

 portant to know just what relation the 

 whales, sea lions, harbor seals and por- 

 poises sustain to the salmon, the sar- 

 dine, the herring, and the cod. The re- 

 lation of the California sea lion and 

 Steller's sea lion to the salmon fisheries 

 has long been a moot question. Con- 

 clusive study of the question has never 

 been made, and no one is in a position 

 to say from his own knowledge just 

 what laws should be enacted regarding 

 those species. The same is true of the 

 whales. What we know or believe re- 

 garding their feeding habits is of the 

 most general character. Only a few 

 days ago I was told that an examina- 

 tion of the stomach contents of a Hump- 

 back whale recently brought in to the 

 Moss Landing Whaling Station of the 

 California Sea Products Company yield- 

 ed 1500 to 3000 pounds of sardines, be- 

 sides a miscellaneous lot of smelt, an- 

 chovies, shrimps, and squids. In the 

 stomach of a sperm whale were found 

 a 10-foot shark, a piece of fur-seal 

 skin, and a bunch of fishhooks!- 



These are surprising statements, espe- 

 cially that about the 10-foot shark. 

 They call attention to the necessity for 



