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Bowhead and
Pacific Right Whales - Whales and
Whaling pictures 28
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The Bowhead or Arctic Whale.
Balaena mysticetus, L. The Right
Whale of the Pacific. Balaena japonica, Gray. (Eubalaena
cullamach.)
The bowhead and right whales were the preferred
catch by whalers for a long time up to the beginning of the 20th
century. They had plenty of very long whalebone or baleen (up to
14 feet (4.2m) long in the bowhead), they had plenty of blubber,
they were slow swimming and floated when killed so weren't lost
and were easier to flense.
Image courtesy NOAA |
The
whaling gallery is a collection of images from a
whole range of sources. It is intended to inform
and illustrate a now (thankfully) vanished occupation and way of life that for the men
so engaged was hard and often
dangerous. It is intended for historical interest rather than a commentary on the ethics of whaling. |
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