CHAPTER IX.

WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN.

Present knowledge of the large whales of the west coast of North America rests almost exclusively on the observations of Capt. C. M. Scammon, made more than thirty years ago. The record of these observations, together with some pieces of whalebone, bones, etc., was sent by Capt. Scammon to the Smithsonian Institution. The manuscript was placed by the secretary of the Institution in the hands of Professor E. D. Cope, who edited it and published it in the name of Capt. Scammon, and at the same time described a number of the species as new (83).

Later, Capt. Scammon published his well-known work entitled Marine Mammals of the North western Coast of North America (82), in which additional information was given regarding the various species, together with more elaborate figures. This work was accompanied by an appendix by Mr. Wm. H. Dall, giving a list of species and valuable measurements, references to specimens, etc.

In 1872 Capt. Scammon published a description of a small Balaenoptera, under the name of B. davidsoni, which had been omitted from the large work (81). Very little has been added since Capt. Scammon's time either in the way of new observations or specimens, and the present knowledge of these West Coast whales is still very incomplete.

In 1893 the skeleton of a Humpback whale from the West Coast was exhibited in the World's Columbian Exposition. A few notes on it which I made at the exposition are given on a subsequent page. Photographs of a Humpback killed in Henderson Bay, Puget Sound, were obtained by the National Museum in 1896. In 1899 a fine adult skeleton of a West Coast Finback, which had been formerly the property of Prof. Cope, was mounted and exhibited in the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia. The greater part of the material sent to the Smithsonian Institution by Capt. Scammon in 1869 and subsequent years is still in the National Museum, and has been examined and verified by the writer.

Observations of the large whales of the western shores of the North Pacific have been recorded by Pallas (72, 286-288), Temminck and Schlegel, Gray (53, 96; 54, 1; 55, 43), Möbius (70), and others. These observations, of course, throw light on the identity of the species of the American coasts and the scientific names in some instances doubtless have priority over those of Cope. While it is not possible at the present time to investigate the identity of the species in the same detail as in the case of the Atlantic species, it seems desirable to review the subject in the present connection, and to add such new information as has accumulated.

It is certain, as pointed out by Van Beneden (8, 234) and others, that the whales of the North Pacific bear a strong resemblance to those of the North Atlantic, so much so that the question of their identity with them may properly be raised. To this statement a notable exception must be made in the case of the Gray whale, Rhachianectes, which has no counterpart in the North Atlantic, since it is now certain that the genus Agaphelus of Cope, supposed to be based on an allied Atlantic species, is fictitious. There is no reasonable doubt that the following Atlantic and Pacific species are closely allied in the manner indicated:

"Cullamach" whale allied to Balana glacialis Bonnat.

Megaptera versabilis

Balaenoptera velifera

Sibbaldius sulfureus

Balaenoptera davidsoni"

Balaenoptera borealis of the eastern North Atlantic has no representative, so far as known at present, in the North Pacific,-an interesting circumstance.

Balana sieboldii Gray (?).

The whale mentioned by Scammon under the name of the "Right whale of the Northwestern Coast," must be dismissed with a few words, as no new material is at command by means of which to determine its identity. Scammon (82, 66) states that "the color of the Right whale is generally black, yet there are many individuals with more or less white about the throat and pectorals, and sometimes they are pied all over. Its average adult length may be calculated at 60 feet-it rarely attains to 70 feet,-and the two sexes vary but little in size. Its head is very nearly one third the length of the whole animal, and the upper intermediate portion, or the part between the spiracles and 'bonnet,' has not that even spherical form, or the smooth and glossy surface present with the Bowhead, but is more or less ridgy crosswise. Both lips and head have wart-like bunches moderately developed, and in some cases the upper surface of the head and fins is infested with parasitical crustaceans."

Pechuel in 1871 (73, 1184) published a figure of a Right whale killed near the Aleutian Ids. during his expedition. It resembles Scammon's figure in a general way, but is entirely black. No measurements could be taken on account of stormy weather.

The whalebone, as far as may be judged from pieces in the National Museum, is entirely black, occasionally with a bluish or greenish tinge, but without the distinct whitish stripes which occur in many specimens of the whalebone of B. mysticetus. The bristles are coarser than in the latter species. The following are the lengths of the pieces in the National Museum which may be assigned to this species:

66

Length.

No. 57,135. "Japan." Bought of Wm. Philips & Son, New Bedford, Mass., 1883... 8 ft. 6 in. 13,990. Sea of Japan. Capt. C. M. Scammon, 1873.... 13,988. N. W. coast of America. Capt. C. M. Scammon.

66

"Northwest." Bought of Wm. Philips & Son, New Bedford, Mass., 1883

8

66

2

8 2

Regarding this species, Van Beneden remarked in 1875 (5, 37): "It seems to us demonstrated and confirmed to-day that the whale of the coasts of Japan

is a distinct species, and occurs in the North Pacific as the Basque whale occurs in the North Atlantic."

Megaptera versabilis Cope. - M. Modasa Bomatever

Cope described this species from the data furnished by Scammon (83, 15). These data include the following characters:

1. "A short body with immense belly, and frequently diminutive 'small'; inordinately large pectorals and flukes."

2. "A protuberance, of variable shape and size in different individuals, placed on the back about one fourth the length from the flukes, is called the hump."

3. "The top of the head is dotted with irregular rounded bunches, that project above the surface about a half inch, each covering about two inches of space." 4. "Number of folds on the belly twenty-six, averaging in width from four to eight inches."

5. "Color of body black, under side of pectorals white. Frequently the under side of the flukes is white likewise, and sometimes the greater portion of the belly."

6. "The Humpback has also growing on its body what are termed barnacles, which appear to collect most on the fins, flukes, and head."

"The following measurements and memoranda were taken by Capt. F. S. Redfield, of the whaling and trading brig Manuella, while cruising in Behring Sea, September 17th, 1866 "1:

'These measurements were corrected in the Marine Mammals, p. 39, and the later figures are given here.

The characters included in the foregoing paragraphs are all identical with those of M. nodosa, except that relating to the position of the dorsal fin, which is said to be "about one fourth the length from the flukes," while in M. nodosa the distance from the posterior margin of the flukes is almost exactly one third the total length. This character is undoubtedly drawn from the measurements cited above. How far these measurements are reliable can not be exactly ascertained. As given in the Marine Mammals, they are considerably changed from the figures of 1869. It will be seen later that in another specimen measured by Scammon the distance from the posterior margin of the dorsal fin to the snout was exactly two thirds the total length.

The length of the pectorals, according to these measurements, is 27.4% the total length, as against 27.0% to 31.0% in M. nodosa. The breadth of the pectorals is 6.4%, against 6.1 % to 7.6% in M. nodosa; height of dorsal fin, 2.0 % against 1.9% to 2.5 %. The approximation must be regarded as very close.

Professor Cope considered the presence of tubercles on top of the head as constituting a distinguishing character, but such is, of course, not the case.

Scammon's observations in the Marine Mammals (82) include those employed by Cope in establishing the species M. versabilis, with others of equal importance. He gives notes on the color and some other features of three additional specimens from California. These are as follows:

No. 1. Female. Color of body, black above, but more or less marbled with white below. Fins, black above, and dotted with white beneath. Number of folds on throat and breast, 21, the widest of which were 6 inches.

No. 2. Female. Color of body black, with slight marks of white beneath. Color of pectorals, black above, white below. Color of flukes, black above and below. Gular folds, 18. Tubercles on lips, 9.

No. 3. Female. Color of body black above, slightly mottled with white and gray below. Fins and flukes, black above, white beneath. Number of laminæ of whalebone 540; black, streaked with white, or light lead color.

Scammon remarks further:

"The usual color of the Humpback is black above, a little lighter below, slightly marbled with white or gray; but sometimes the animal is of spotless white under the fins and about the abdomen. The posterior edge of the hump, in many examples, is tipped with pure white" (82, 41).

After referring to the various normal species of Gray, Scammon adds:

"We have frequently recognized, upon the California coast, every species here

described, and even in the same school or 'gam.' Moreover, we have experienced the greatest difficulty in finding any two of these strange animals externally alike, or possessing any marked generic or specific differences. If the differences pointed out as constituting different species are maintained, we conclude there must be a great number. We have observed, both in the dead and living animals, the following different external marks: 1st. Body black above, white beneath. 2d. Body black above and below, with more or less white mottling under the throat and above the abdomen; pectoral and caudal fins white beneath, or slightly spotted with black. 3d. Body black above, white beneath, with underside of pectoral and caudal fins of a dark ash-color. 4th. Body black above, with gray mottling beneath. In all of these varieties, both the caudal and pectoral fins differ in shape and size; the latter in some individuals being exceedingly long, narrow, and pointed, while others are comparatively short and broad, as shown in the outline (page 47), which also shows the parasites, commonly called barnacles, adhering to the throat, pectorals, and caudal fin. There are still others whose pectorals are of intermediate proportions, but terminate abruptly, as seen on page 48, which also represents the scalloped flukes present in some of the individuals. Again, in other examples, the caudal fin is narrow, pointed, and lunate; in others, still, it is broad, and nearly straight on the posterior edge. All these varieties feed and associate together on the same ground, and in every particular their habits are the same, so far as we have been able to ascertain from careful observation; all, likewise, are infested by the same parasites. As to the dorsal protuberance called the hump, it is, as has been previously stated, of no regular shape or size, but is nearly of a uniform height; the posterior edge is sometimes tipped with white. As to the tubercles on the head and lips, they were present on all we have examined, twenty or more specimens; those about the head are always well-developed, while those upon the lips, in many individuals, are scarcely perceptible. In some instances, however, they equal or exceed those which crown the skull. There is no regularity in the number of gular folds, which, as far as observed, vary in number from eighteen to twentysix. In some cases they run parallel to each other; but usually there are several that either cross or terminate near the pectorals. The animals are all described as being black above; but in the examples which have been examined, there was not one when closely scrutinized, which did not reveal some light marks of white." (82, 43, 44, foot-note.)

It will be seen that the range of color variation is about the same in the Pacific Humpback, as in the Atlantic species. The pectorals are perhaps more frequently black externally, but as they are also pure white at times, as shown by the photographs above-mentioned, this can hardly be looked upon as indicating a specific difference. (See pl. 41, figs. 1, 2.)

The number of abdominal ridges is not different from that found in M. nodosa.

One peculiarity merits attention. Scammon states that some parts of the body in the Pacific Humpback are occasionally gray. The Newfoundland Humpbacks which I examined were all black and white, without gradation or intermingling so as to produce shades of gray, but Rawitz (74) has stated that one of the Humpbacks examined by him at Bear Id., Norway, was gray on the throat.

Scammon gives measurements of the three specimens above mentioned, which, together with a part of the earlier ones, are as follows: