Translation 2783

171.
YAMILY i!n•;CHRICHTIIDAE (GREY WnALES) 115
.Grey whales . occupy an iluermediate position between right
whales and rorquals.. The bod y . is thicker than that of rorquals, but
considerably more slender titan that of right whales... There is no
dorsalfin, out instead of it there are small tubercles along the
cre,_st of the caudal section. The' throat and belly do . not sag. On
are from two to four slightly-divergin
but not
joined together) grooves, up to 1.5-2.0 metres long . The flippers
are relatively broad --narrower than those of rizht , hales, but broader •
than those of rorquals. Thè head is not large, being up to 20;; of
the body length. The oral cavity contains up -to 360 short saloon •
plates.
This family contains only one genus and one sPecies.
Grey Whale (Eschrichtius gibbosus Erxl., 1777)
The average body length of the males is 11-12 metres (maximum
14.6 metres), and that of femaleS 12-13 metres (maximum 15 5 metres).
• .The body is elongated, with a slight constriction noticeable
in the cervical region (Pig. 45).
The dorsal, side is more convex than
the ventral side. ThL: maximum girth in the region or Lhe flippers
is, on an average, 62.5).; to 66.7e) ?
of the zoological body length. The
head ip small, occupying only one-fifth of the body length. There
are no grooves on the ventral side of the body.
throat are up to two metres.long and up to 5 cm
The.grooves
on the
deep. Usually they
begin from 60 to 150 cm from the tip of the lower jaw and, diverging
slightly laterally, run towards the umbilicus. Instead of a dorsal
fin there are from five to fifteen s:(iall (up to 5-10 cm high) tubercles
along the .crest of te caudal region (usually above the anus).
the tnroat there
•
l'ne. .15. Cetii mi'.
2iu. 45 Grey vrhale.
ïhe colol4r varies fro:a brounish- blac
,.royish- broun, with
relatively larh whi. ici patches up to 10 cm in diameter L;cattered all