1010] 



on Subantarctic Whales and Whaling 



5 



that in the next month a <j^reater length is most common ; and so on 

 for several of the succeeding months, after which the whaling season 

 comes practically to an end, and the number of records is inadequate 

 to give a normal result. Although there are certain irregularities 

 needing explanation in the graphs constructed from the statistics, the 

 general result has been arrived at that, in each of the three species 

 principally hunted at South Georgia, pairing takes place with greatest 

 frequency at a certain period of the year, and that a normal curve of 

 pairing can be drawn. This result gives in the main a satisfactory 

 explanation of the statistical records. The season when pairing is 

 at its h(Mght falls, in each case, outside the period when whaling is 

 actively carried on in the far South ; and the important conclusion 

 is reached that if the whales are to be protected during their breeding 

 season, it must probably be done in regions of the world further 

 North than South Georgia. The validity of the Southern figures, 

 which have no doubt been roughly recorded by the whalers, has 

 been confirmed by obtaining corresponding results from the examina- 

 tion of the statistical foetal records of Northern whales. 



It can hardly be doubted that protective measures of some kind 

 Hre urgently necessary now, or will at least become so in the near 

 future ; although it is by no means certain what form they should 

 take. The British Government is in some respects in a specially 

 favourable position with regard to this matter, since all the important 

 whaling grounds of the Subantarctic region belong to the Depend- 

 encies of the Falkland Islands and lie in its jurisdiction. It is 

 satisfactory to be able to conclude with the statement that the 

 Government is fully alive to the necessity of taking steps before it 

 is too late, anil that an Interdepartmental Committee is at present 

 engaged, under the auspices of the Colonial Office, in framing a 

 scheme for an Expedition which is to iuvestigate the whaling problem 

 on the spot, with the view of obtaining information on which 

 legislation may be based. 



[S. F. H.] 



LONDON : PRINTED BT WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 

 GREAT WINDMILL STHEET, W., AND DUKK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.K. 



