(73) 
A NOTE ON THE WHALES FEEQUENTINO SOUTH AFEICAJST 
WATEKS. 
By Dr. L. Peringxjey. 
(With Plate 1.) 
The number of species of Whales frequenting our coasts is still under 
discussion. It seems desirable to mention here those that have come under 
any observations, leaving for another more elaborate note an account of 
notes and observations on their peculiarities and etiology. 
Apart from the Cachalot or Sperm Whale, found in all the warm seas, we 
have two True Whales, five Fin-Whales and one Hump-back Whale. 
The True Whales are : 
(1) Balaena australis, the True Whale, which has not been met apparently 
south of lat. 60° S. It is not common by any means on our coasts. In 
former years the females of those met either in False Bay or Table Bay 
were either heavy in calf or accompanied by their offspring. 
(2) Neobalaena marginata, the Pigmy Whale. It is a small species from 
the Australian, New Zealand and South American seas. Some three years 
ago a male, 11 ft. in length, was captured in False Bay. The skeleton is 
in our Museum. It is the first time, as far as I know, that this rare whale 
has been recorded in our latitude. 
The Fin-Whales or Eorquals are : (1) Balaenoptera musculus, also known 
as B. sibhaldi, the Blue Whale. It is the largest animal alive, and probably 
the largest animal that ever appeared on earth. I have now trustworthy 
evidence of a measurement of 102 ft. 4 in., and of another example that 
was by several feet longer than the hauling slip of 100 ft. ; part of the tail 
was still in the water. We had last year presented to the Museum a pair 
of the lower jaws measuring 22 ft. 9 in. in the curve. The jaws of a 75 ft. 
skeleton of the same species measure 18 ft. 6 in., and the probability is 
that the former belonged to an animal near or possibly more than 100 ft. in 
length. It has a wide distribution, from the Northern to Southern 
Hemisphere. 
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