1. WHALEBONE WHALES (Mystacoceti)
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Right whales (Balænidæ) Rorquals (Balænopteridæ)
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Southern right whale | |
(Balæna glacialis) Finner whales Humpback
(Balænoptera) (Megaptera nodosa)
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Blue whale (B. musculus)
Fin whale (B. physalis)
Sei whale (B. borealis)
Piked whale (B. acutorostrata)
Bryde’s whale (B. brydei)
2. TOOTHED WHALES (Odontoceti)
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Sperm whale Beaked whales Dolphins
(Physeter catodon) (including bottlenose whales) (1) Killer
(Hyperoodon rostratus) (Orcinus orca)
(2) Black Fish
(Globicephalus melas)
(3) Porpoises
(Lagenorhynchus sp.)
The subdivision of whalebone whales is one of degree in the size of the whalebone. These whales have enormously muscular tongues, which press the water through the whalebone lamellæ and thus, by a filtering process, retain the small food organisms. The food of the whalebone whales is largely the small crustacea which occur in the plankton, though some whales (humpback, fin whales, and sei whales) feed also on fish. The stomachs examined at South Georgia during December 1914, belonged to the three species, humpbacks, fin whales, and blue whales, and all contained small crustacea—Euphausiæ, with a mixture of amphipods. The toothed whales—sperms and bottlenoses—are known to live on squids, and that there is an abundance of this type of food in the Weddell Sea was proved by an examination of penguin and seal stomachs. Emperor penguins (and hundreds of these were examined) were invariably found to contain Cephalopod “beaks,” while large, partly digested squids were often observed in Weddell seals. A dorsal fin is present in the rorquals but absent in right whales. With other characters, notably the size of the animal, it serves as a ready mark of identification, but is occasionally confusing owing to the variation in shape in some of the species.
With the exception of several schools of porpoises very few whales were seen during the outward voyage. Not till we approached the Falkland area did they appear in any numbers. Four small schools of fin whales and a few humpbacks were sighted on October 28 and 29, 1914, in lat. 38° 01´ S., long. 55° 03´ W. and in lat. 40° 35´ S., long. 53° 11´ W., while Globicephalus melas was seen only once, in lat. 45° 17´ S., long. 48° 58´ W., on October 31, 1914. At South Georgia, the whales captured at the various stations in December 1914, were blue whales, fin whales, and humpbacks (arranged respectively according to numbers captured). During the fishing season 1914–15 (from December to March) in the area covered—South Georgia to the South Sandwich Islands and along Coats’ Land to the head of the Weddell Sea—the records of whales were by no means numerous. Two records only could with certainty be assigned to the humpback, and these were in the neighbourhood of the South Sandwich Islands. Pack-ice was entered in lat. 59° 55´ S., long. 18° 28´ W., and blue whales were recorded daily until about 65° S. Between lat. 65° 43´ S., long. 17° 30´ W., on December 27, 1914, and lat. 69° 59´ S., long. 17° 31´ W., on January 3, 1915, no whales were seen. On January 4, however, in lat. 69° 59´ S., long. 17° 36´ W., two large sperm whales appeared close ahead of the ship in fairly open water, and were making westward. They remained sufficiently long on the surface to render their identification easy. Farther south, blue whales were only seen occasionally, and fin whales could only be identified in one or two cases. Killers, however, were numerous, and the lesser piked whale was quite frequent. There was no doubt about the identity of this latter species as it often came close alongside the ship. From April to September (inclusive) the sea was frozen over (with the exception of local “leads”), and whales were found to be absent. In October whales again made their appearance, and from then onwards they were a daily occurrence. Identification of the species, however, was a difficult matter, for the Endurance was crushed and had sunk, and observations were only possible from the ice-floe, or later on from the boats. The high vertical “spout” opening out into a dense spray was often visible, and denoted the presence of blue and fin whales. The lesser piked whale again appeared in the “leads” close to our “camp” floe, and was easily identified. An exceptional opportunity was presented to us on December 6, 1915, when a school of eight bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon rostratus) appeared in small “pool” alongside “Ocean” Camp in lat. 67° 47´ S., long. 52° 18´ W. These ranged from about 20 ft. to a little over 30 ft. in length, and were of a uniform dark dun colour—the large specimens having a dull yellow appearance. There were no white spots. At the edge of the pack-ice during the first half of April 1916, about lat. 62° S. and long. 54° W. (entrance to Bransfield Strait), whales were exceedingly numerous, and these were chiefly fin whales, though a few seemed to be sei whales. It is interesting to note that the fishing season 1915–1916 was exceptionally productive—no less than 11,860 whales having been captured in the Falkland area alone.
The South Atlantic whaling industry, then, has reached a critical stage in development. It is now dependent on the captures of the large fin and blue whales, humpbacks having been rapidly reduced in numbers, so that the total stock appears to have been affected. With regard to the other species, the southern right whale has never been abundant in the captures, the sperm whale and the sei whale have shown a good deal of seasonal variation, though never numerous, and the bottlenose and lesser piked whale have so far not been hunted, except in the case of the latter for human food. The vigorous slaughter of whales both in the sub-Antarctic and in the sub-tropics, for the one area reacts on the other, calls for universal legislation to protect the whales from early commercial extinction, and the industry, which is of world-wide economic importance, from having to be abandoned. The British Government, with the control of the world’s best fisheries, is thoroughly alive to the situation, and an Inter-departmental Committee, under the direction of the Colonial Office, is at present devising a workable scheme for suitable legislation for the protection of the whales and for the welfare of the industry.
APPENDIX II
THE EXPEDITION HUTS AT McMURDO SOUND
By SIR E. H. SHACKLETON
The following notes are designed for the benefit of future explorers who may make McMurdo Sound a base for inland operations, and to clear any inaccuracies or ambiguities concerning the history, occupation, and state of these huts.
(1) THE NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION’S HUT AT HUT POINT—THE HEAD OF McMURDO SOUND
This hut was constructed by Captain Scott in 1902, by the Expedition sent out by the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society, the Government, and by private subscription. Captain Robert F. Scott was appointed to the command of the Expedition. I served as Third Lieutenant until February 1903, when I was invalided home through a broken blood vessel in the lungs, the direct result of scurvy contracted on the Southern journey. The Discovery hut was a large strong building, but was so draughty and cold in comparison with the ship, which was moored one hundred yards away, that it was, during the first year, never used for living quarters. Its sole use was as a storehouse, and a large supply of rough stores, such as flour, cocoa, coffee, biscuit, and tinned meat, was left there in the event of its being used as a place of retreat should any disaster overtake the ship. During the second year occasional parties camped inside the hut, but no bunks or permanent sleeping quarters were ever erected. The discomfort of the hut was a byword on the Expedition, but it formed an excellent depot and starting-point for all parties proceeding to the south.