The Fin-back, or Rorqual (Balaenoptera musculus), runs up to 70 ft. in length, and yet its food seems to consist chiefly of small pelagic crustaceans belonging to the Copepoda. These little creatures, which can be taken by a fine-mesh surface net at all seasons of the year, vary from one-tenth to one-fortieth of an inch in length. It would be a somewhat difficult calculation to find how many of these little creatures would be required to assuage the appetite of a hungry whale. The whale has about 330 baleen plates on each side of its jaw, and these act as strainers to catch the little crustaceans. The production and destruction of inconceivable myriads of organisms are among the extraordinary and awe-inspiring phenomena of the sea.
Two other species of Balaenoptera are the Blue Whale (B. sibbaldii), which has been taken 85 ft. in length—the giant of its race—and the Pike Whale (B. rostrata), which seldom exceeds 30 ft.
The Humpback Whale (Megaptera lalandii) is so called because it has a lowish hump on its back, which represents the dorsal fin. Its maximum length is probably 60 ft. None of these whales, which are species with a very wide geographical distribution, are of much commercial value.
Of the “right” whales—which are merely the right kind of whales for the whaler to pursue, as their whalebone is longer and more valuable, and their oil more abundant and superior in quality to that of the other species named—the most important is the Southern Right Whale (Balaena australis). This animal is world-wide in its distribution, occurring in all seas but the Arctic regions, where its place is taken by the Greenland Whale (B. mysticetus).
Allied to this is the Little Australian Whale (Neobalaena marginata), which occurs only in the ocean south of New Zealand and Australia, and which grows only about 16 ft. long.
The most important of all these animals from a commercial point of view is the Sperm Whale, or Cachalot, an animal 60 ft. to 70 ft. in length—nearly one-third of it head—which used to be common in these southern seas, though mainly an inhabitant of warmer regions. The specific name—Physeter macrocephalus—refers to its gigantic head. The mouth is ventral in position, and the lower jaw is furnished with a great row of teeth, and according to Frank Bullen, who gives a picture of it, the animal turns over on its back like a shark when it is going to bite. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this statement.
Fig. 6.—Sperm Whale, or Cachalot.
These animals are still fairly common, though they are persistently and unremittingly pursued for their destruction. Bullen, writing of Foveaux Strait in the “nineties,” says, “Only three days elapsed after our arrival when whales were seen. For the first time I realized how numerous these gigantic denizens of the sea really are. As far as the eye could reach, extending all round one-half of the horizon, the sea appeared to be alive with spouts—all sperm whales, all bulls of great size. The value of this incredible school must have been incalculable. Subsequent experience satisfied me that such a sight was by no means uncommon here—in fact, ‘lone whales’ or small ‘pods’ were quite the exception.”