Sulphurbottom, or Blue Whale (Bala-mop sera Nnu.scuIrs).—The sulphurbottom, as al ready stated, is a species of finback. Wherever finbacks are observed there are found to be four distinct forms. Each of these has been de scribed from different localities under different names, but the %ariations are slight in each case, and have never been fully.establithed, so that there is a strong prokshility that there are but four cosmopolitan species. These are the sul phurbottoni, the common finback, the pollack whale and the little piked whale. Each form will now be considered separately, beginning with the sulphurhottom. The sulphurbottom is the largest of whales and the largest of all ani mals now existing. and was probably not sur passed in size by any sewenol living in earlier geological times. The largest individual of which there are authentic measurements was &OA feet long. The average length for adults is about 76 feet. The sulphurbottom has a mass ive head and broad snout. and the body tapers gradually to the flukes. The dorsal fin is fal cate and less than a foot long, and is situated at a point a little mote than three-fourths the distance from the top of the snout to the notch of the flukes. The pectoral fins arc falcate and about seven and one-half feet long, from the axilla. In color the sulphurbottom is gray nearly uniform on the head. but mottled on the hack and sides. On the belly are numerous white Tots. The pectoral fins are gray above and white below, the flukes gray on both sides and the dorsal fin also gray, sometimes with a whitish centre. The abdominal ridges number 62 to Kt. The whalebone is .ilsont three feet long, broad at the base and black in color, both plates and bristles. These huge whales feed exclusively on small crustaceans, the species in the North Atlantic being the thysanopod Emphastsin irirrmis. The sulphurbottom congre gate in the hays of southern Newfoundland, Iceland and northern Norway in early spring and remain until ahont July. Some individuals, however, appear to remain throughow the year, and their migrations are irregular and not well understood They rarely strand on the east coast of the United States, nearly all the indi viduals reported as such belonging to the next species, the common finbacic Common Finback ( Bohm° ptero phyca/us). - This is the most commonly observed and best known of the finbacks. In size it ranks next to the sulphurbottom. The form is exceedingly attenuated. Adult individuals reach an average length of 65 feet. The head is narrow an teriorly. The dorsal fin exceeds a foot in height and is situated as in the sulphurbottom. The pectoral fins are small, somewhat triangular. and about five feet long, from the axilla. This whale is gray on the back and upper surfaces of the pectoral fins and flukes and white on the belly and the under surfaces of the pectoral fins and flukes. The whalebone as a whole is gray, striped longitudinally with white, but at the anterior end of the jaw on the right side the whalebone is all white. The outside of the right lower jaw is also white. These parts are dark on the left side. This singular asymmetry of coloration is peculiar to, and characteristic of, the species. The common finback feeds on va rious kinds of small fish, especially the capelin, herring, young cod, etc.
In the North Atlantic it appears in spring in Massachusetts Bay, the Gulf of Maine, about Newfoundland, and in Greenland waters, as well as on the coasts of northern Europe. In the fall it withdraws from these waters and is supposed to migrate southward. The large whales which strand on the east coast of the United States are almost invariably of this species. When swimming or rising to spout, this whale, like the sulphurbottom, shows the top of the head and back and the dorsal fin, but nothing beyond. The flukes are not thrown out of the water when it dives or sounds.
Pollack Whale, or Rudo1phi's Rorqual (Balarrottera borealis).— This is a smaller whale than either of the preceding, adults reaching a length of about 45 feet. The form is more compact, the dorsal fin larger and more anteriorly placed. It is black on the back and sides, with a restricted gray or whitish area on the belly. The pectoral fins and flukes are dark gray, both above and below. The whale bone plates are black, but the bristles white. This whale, like the sulphurbottom, feeds on small crustaceans. Although large numbers of individuals were taken on the northern coast of Norway in some years when the fishery was at its height, it appears to be less abundant than the larger species. It was not positively known
to occur on the east coast of North Amedca until 1903, when four specimens were taken at the Newfoundland whaling stations. It can not yet be considered more than a straggler in American waters. A similar, or identical, species has been observed in the Pacific Ocean, but little is known regarding it.
Little Piked Whale, or Lesser Pinner (Balanofrtera ocuto-rostrays).— This is the smallest of the finbacks and is not sought for by whalers. The form is thickset like that of a porpoise and the head pointed. When adult. it is about 25 feet long, and the maximum length is about 28 feet. The dorsal fin is larger than in any of the other finbacks and is situated farther forward, or at a point only about two thirds the distance from the tip of the snout to the notch of the flukes. It is very dark gray or blackish on the hack and sides and white on the belly, a little clouded with gray. The pec toral fins are blackish above, with a broad cross band of white near the middle; below they are white. The flukes arc blackish above and whit ish below. In this species the abdominal ridges are very numerous and narrow. The whalehone is very short and entirely white. The little whale feeds upon fish. It is found other species of finbacks in the North Atlantic, migrating northward and southward in the same manner, according to the season. A few spw mens have been observed on the coast of New England, New York and New Jersey, either stranded or entangled in the nets of the fisher men. Whales of the same size and form and with the same peculiar markings have been ob served on the coast of New Zealand. Argentina. Washington, Alaska and in other widely sep arated localities.
California Gray Whale, Grayback or Dev ilfish (Ifhockianecies glalsou).— This remark able whale is found only in the North Pacific. Its characters have been already enumerated above. When full-grown it has a length of about 40 feet. It is a restless and sagacious animal, and when wounded frequently attacks the boats sent out for its capture. In earlier days it was found abundantly in the winter months in the lagoons and bays of Lower Cali fornia whither it repaired to breed. It is fond of playing in the surf and approaches close in shore to indulge in this recreation without fear of stranding. The gray whale is found as far northward as Bering Sea and occurs also on the coast of Japan, but has no counterpart in other seas.
Greenland Right Whale, Arctic Right Whale, or Bowhead (Bolcom ortysticess).— In reviewing the observa0ons of earlier zoologists, Cuvier came to the conclusion that but one species of right whale existed in the North At lantic and Arctic oceans, an erroneous opinion, which neveretheless was accepted until the Dan ish cetologist, Eschricht, proved that the right whale of the Arctic was quite distinct from the species occurring farther south. This Arctic right whale, or bowhead. as it is called by American whalers, is most remarkable in ago' pearance. The snout is narrow and arched like a bow. From the roof of the month de pends the extraordinary, narrow black whale bone, which may be 12 feet long or even longer This whalebone is enclosed and protected by the immense oblong lower lip, the curved upper edge of which fits arainst the side of the upper jaw when the month is shut. The back is with out a fin, while the pectorals are short. and broad. There are no ridges or furrows on the bell. Adults reach a length of about 60 feet. bowbead rarely or never leaves the Arctic ice, but like other whales it migrates north ward and southward with the changes of the seasons. On the east coast of America it is never seen as far south as the southern ex tremity of Greenland, though there is a tradi tion that at the time of the discovery of the country it ranged as far south as the Strait of Belle Isle in winter. It occurs in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska and ranges southward into Bering Sea. Individuals are believed to pass hack and forth through the channels be tween the islands north of the continent from the eastern to the western side. The bowbead feeds chiefly on small ptcropod mollusks and crustaceans which occur in vast multitudes in die Arctic Ocean. It is the most valuable of whales from a commercial point of view, on account of the thickness of the blubber and the length and fine quality of the whalebone, whack at present commands exceedingly high prices its mutant pursuit for three centuries has now vergnatly diminished its abundance.