THE LESSER RORQUAL 
up to about 30 feet in length, is somewhat stout in build and like 
Rudolphi's Rorqual possesses a rather high and hooked dorsal fin. 
The colour above is greyish black or brownish grey, the ribbed under 
parts are white and the baleen yellowish white. 
This whale is a northern species, approaching in summer the ice floes 
of the Polar regions, when it also visits the fjords of Norway, the 
Shetlands, and the coasts of Scotland. 
It has more often been stranded on the shores of Scotland than those 
of England. 
In the Report on Cetacea Stranded on the 'British Coasts during 
1 91 6, by Sir Sidney Harmer, F.R.S., two Lesser Rorquals are reported 
stranded on the Scottish Coasts, one at North Berwick in August and 
another at Caithness in October. The first of these had lost its head, 
tail, and flippers. 
The habits of this species are not known to differ from those of its 
congeners, and owing to its small size it is not considered of much value 
by the whalers. 
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