Whale hunting with gun and camera / A naturalist's account of the modern shore-whaling industry, of whales and their habits, and of hunting experiences in various parts of the world

by Roy Chapman Andrews

“For many years the sei whale was supposed to be the young of either the blue or the finback whale, and it was not until 1828 that it was recognized by science as being a distinct species.”

For many years the sei whale was supposed to be the young of either the blue or the finback whale, and it was not until 1828 that it was recognized by science as being a distinct species. The Norwegians gave the animal its name because it arrives upon the coast of Finmark with the “seje,” or black codfish (Polachius virens), but in Japan it is called iwashi kujira (sardine whale).

A sei whale fast to the ship. The shape of the spout is well shown.

Until shore stations were erected in various parts of the world sei whales were supposed to be very rare and were known only from the North Atlantic Ocean, but within the last fifteen years they have been taken near South Africa, the Falkland and South Shetland Islands, and Japan, and have proved to be one of the most abundant of large cetaceans.

The sei whale has a roving disposition and wanders restlessly from one coast to another, sometimes journeying great distances and suddenly appearing in waters where it has never before been known. It has more or less regular migrations and there is evidence that individuals travel from the Antarctic into the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Strangely enough a clew to their wanderings has been given by a parasite which lives upon the whale’s body. This Copepod, known as Penella antarctica, produces a peculiar white or grayish oval scar two or three inches in length, which for many years was supposed to be a feature of the sei whale’s coloration. I suspected at first sight that these spots were scars left by a parasite of some sort, but it was not until two years later that my suspicion was proved correct and the animal itself discovered.

It was doubly interesting to find that this parasite is an Antarctic species which has never been known from the North Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. On the second French Antarctic Expedition Dr. Liouville discovered that all the sei whales taken in the South Atlantic were bristling with these parasites but except in rare cases the whales of the north have none of them in situ. The parasites are short-lived and probably die or break off during the northward travels of their hosts, leaving only the scars behind.

It is not probable that all sei whales make this migration annually—in fact it is highly improbable that such is the case—but herds are apparently formed which visit certain localities every year, now and then being reinforced by individuals which have come either from the Antarctic into the north or vice versa.